Brave New World
by What-You've-Got-Is-Gold
Summary: SEQUEL TO THINGS CHANGE AND PROMISES READ THEM FIRST! Austin and Ally's children are growing up fast; Austin is still trying to say no, but when those puppy dog eyes come out, it's just hard to./ So much other good stuff that I don't want to spoil XD
1. Burnt Pancakes And Puppy Dog Eyes

Austin's eyes flew open when the alarm went off. He turned it off and turned to Ally, who was still sleeping. "That cloud is beautiful," she muttered, her eyes still closed. She was talking in her sleep again. "Sorry Cloud Watching Club," she continued, "but I have to get the triplets to school for their first day of school..." Then she turned her body, causing her back to face him.

Smiling, Austin covered her up. "Keep dreaming sweetheart, I'll get the kids up and ready for their first day," he said, all the love in his eyes as he ran his hand down her cheek and kissed it.

Sitting up, Austin threw the blanket off of his body and stretched.

He then entered his son, Andrew's room. He was the first to be born out of his brother and sister. He had brown hair and hazel eyes; cute little freckles on his cheeks. He had more of Ally in him than Austin; he was shy, and he liked to write like Ally. He even went with Ally to the Cloud Watchers Club at times, and he loved going outside. He liked to walk their dog Prince, although at times the dog would go a little fast for Andrew and Austin would have to take the leash.

"Hey buddy," he said, slightly shaking the little by away. "You gotta wake up if you don't want to be late for your first day of school."

Andrew's hazel eyes opened. "School!" he said excitedly, sitting up in his bed and standing up. Andrew was excited about starting school; he was already reading. "I'm going to school daddy!"

"That's right," Austin smiled at his son that was so much like his wife. He saw so much of her in him. He picked him up. "Now let's go wake up your brother and sister."

He and Andrew made their way into Ariel's room. Ariel had Austin's blond hair, but her personality was like both Austin and Ally's. She liked romance, unlike her brothers. That was on that Andrew didn't like but his mother and sister did. Her eyes were ocean blue, and she looked a lot like Piper at times. She loved the ocean, like her aunt. She loved spending time with her family, even though her brothers drove her crazy.

"C'mon sweetie," Austin shook his daughter awake gently. "You have to get up."

"But daddy," she whined, "I was having a good dream. You and mommy were flying on a magic carpet, like Aladdin. And Andrew was there, too, he was the parriot."

"Parriot!"Andrew repeated. "If anything I'd be the tiger!"

Ariel ignored his comment. "Alex was the monkey."

Austin smiled, almost wishing he was on that carpet now, with Ally. "Who were you Ari?" he asked.

The little girl shrugged. "I don't know, that's when you woke me up," she said.

"Aww I'm sorry honey. Who was the Genie? If you got to that part."

"Uncle Dez," she answered. Austin knew that, Dez was a goof.

"I didn't mean to interrupt your beauty sleep sweet girl but school is waiting." He helped her out of bed. He knew she was nervous, more than Andrew.

The three went to the room across from Ariel's room, which was Alex,Austin's other son. Alex had blond locks and big brown eyes. He may have had his mommy's eyes, but he wasn't like her. He was just like Austin. He loved giving Prince walks in that park, and sometimes the dog would go to fast so Austin would have to take control. Alex didn't like to admit when he was wrong; it was because of his pride. But he wasn't the only one in his family.

Surprisingly, Alex was already up, sitting in his bed. He wasn't hard in the morning; Ariel was the hardest. He was getting dressed. Ariel snuck up behind him and said "BOO!"

"Ah!" He jumped, then turned around and sighed. "Ariel!"

"I scared you didn't I?" she giggled.

"I wasn't scared! I was just...startled. There's a difference you know," he said.

"Whatever little brother," she teased.

"We're the same age, Ari."

"Yeah butI'm older by 5.6 seconds!"

"Oh yeah," Andrew cut in. "I'm older than all of you, right dad?" He turned to Austin.

"Yeah buddy." Austin smiled, remembering their birth, how scary it was for him and Ally. He and Ally knew they were going to have triplets, but they were in no way prepared for it. They knew they needed to move, and they had a few months before the triplets were born. They moved in a safe and quiet neighborhood near Lester.

"Dad, can you carry me?" Ariel asked, lifting her arms up.

"Of course sweetie." He picked her up. "Now, your old man is going to make his famous pancakes and bacon," he told his children.

"Yay!" they all said, running down the stairs; Austin going more slower because he had Ariel in his arms.

Once in the kitchen, Austin got out the supplies. "I love pancakes," Austin said, sighing. "Alex can you get the pancake mix?"

"Sure!' He got it for him.

"Thank you," he said, "now how many do you guys want?"

"Two." One answer.

"One." Another answer.

"What about you Andrew?"

"Two," he answered on the table, coloring in his coloring book that was left on the table.

"Alrighty," Austin said, beginning to make the pancakes.

Alex went to the living room and turned on the TV. "Ohh SpongeBob!"

"SpongeBob!" Andrew and Ariel said at the same time, and Austin smiled as he flipped the pancake.

"Dad, come watch with us!" Ariel chirped. "It's the one when SpongeBob loses his identity!

"Honey, I gotta make the pancakes. I don't want them to burn." He hated saying no, and the triplets knew that was one of his favorite episodes.

"But daddy," she wined, "pllleeaassee?" She gave him the puppy-dog eyes.

 _Awww,_ Austin said to himself. "Okay." _I'll only be there a second._ He ran to the kitchen and watched the cartoon with his triplets.

* * *

"Do you smell that?" Andrew asked after about twenty minutes of watching.

Austin inhaled. "It smells like something's..." _The pancakes, you idiot! Ally is going to kill you!_

He ran to the kitchen, and the stove was on fire. Letting out a scream, he grabbed a rag, trying to put it out that way by beating it down. If anything, it made it worse.

Andrew and Alex ran around the house screaming "fire!" while Ariel was trying to dial 911 on the home phone. "What's the number for 911?" she asked the screaming boys, that didn't listen to her. She rolled her eyes. "I'll figure it out myself."

 _Water, idiot! Use water!_ he scolded himself, but before he could do anything, he heard a familiar voice yell, "What the hell is going on here?!"

Ally.

 _I'm dead. She's going to murder me and bury me alive._ Well, maybe that was a little dramatic.

Ally trampled down the stairs, calming down the boys and taking the home phone from Ariel. She went to the kitchen where Austin was just staring at her, terrified. "Move, idiot!" she pushed him out of the way and went under the sink. "If you want something done, you do it yourself," she muttered as she got a bucket and filled it with water; went to the stove, and dumbed it out on the stove. The fire sizzled out and Ally breathed heavily.

She gave him the meanest glare.

Austin laughed nervously. "Looks like your a hero again, you know, because the fire at L-"

"I get it," she said through her teeth.

"Mommy!" the triplets shouted, hugging her and praising her; thinking her for "saving" them.

"I'm taking them to school, and we'll talk about this when I get home."

"But I wanted to go with you-"

"You're staying here," she snapped, "end of discussion."

"Yes mam." Austin looked down at his feet.

The triplets gave their daddy a hug and kiss. He blinked, and they were gone.

 _I'm really in the doghouse now._

* * *

Austin waited for Ally to get him, his hands on his cheeks and elbows on his thighs. The door swung open, revealing his wife. He stood up. "Alls-"

"Don't you Alls me! You started a fire in out own house?! The kids told me you were distracted watching SpongeBob."

"Brats," he muttered, "I-I mean kids."

"What do you think you were doing?! I gave birth to three kids, not four! Start acting like their father instead of their immature friend."

"What?!"

"You heard me," she grunted as she went up stairs, and he followed behind.

"C'mon honey," he tried, and she went into his room. "Let's just talk about this-" The door slammed. "Awww, c'mon! That's real mature!"

"More mature than setting a stove on fire because you were distracted watching a TV show."

"I'm sorry, please forgive me," he begged.

No answer.

Austin slid down the door. He glanced at the guitar and an idea came to him. He grabbed it and started playing.

 _"Sometimes Austin messes up,_

 _And the triplets back him up,_

 _He's a really good father_

 _And Ally knows it but doesn't_

 _Admit it because she's too proud."_

"I'm not proud!" she yelled from the door.

Austin just continued.

 _"Austin doesn't mean to be an idiot,_

 _It just kind of happens,_

 _But Ally Moon is the love of_

 _His life,_

 _Oh yeah!_

 _Ally Moon the beautiful brunette_

 _That lucky Austy is married to,_

 _Oh yeah!"_

If he had opened the door, he would see Ally trying not to smile.

 _"And he's married with three_

 _Beautiful children that he and_

 _Alls brought to the world,_

 _Brought to the world!_

 _Oh yeah!"_

The door opened to a smiling Ally. "You can't write a song for your life, can you honey?" she asked, taking a step forward.

Austin set the guitar down. "No," he laughed.

"I still like your song though, especially the me part," she teased.

He laughed, then grew serious. "I'm really sorry about setting the pancakes on fire," he said sincerely.

"I know, and I'm sorry for yelling. You're such a great father Aus," she gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks Alls, and you're a great mother."

They hugged for a few minutes. "Have I mentioned how much I love you?" Ally whispered.

Austin smiled. "No," he teased. They pulled away and he gave her a small kiss.

Their fights never lasted long.

 **Guess who's back? ME! I mean, who else would it be? :)**

 **I hope you like this! So just so you know, this is kind of like a prologue so there's nothing really here except getting to know new characters and Auslly's stupid little fight. Haha.**

 **QOFD: Would you rather date Austin or Ross?**

 **MA: AUSTIN HELL YEAH (Sorry if this offends anyone it's just my opinion :), what's yours?).**

 **Please review and I will see you soon.**


	2. Count Your Blessings

**I'm back! So this is like the REAL beginning of the story. (The beginning is based on one of the first episodes of GMW don't remember the episode I just thought it was cute.)**

"Hey honey, what's for breakfast?" Austin asked excitedly, shaving cream as his face.

"Hey honey, what's for breakfast?" The question was repeated when Alex came from behind Austin, shaving cream on his little face.

Ally rolled her eyes in amusement and laughed. "You're already teaching him how to shave?"

"Never too early," Austin smiled, then it turned into a smirk.

"What are you thinking dad?" Alex asked.

Austin bent down to his level and whispered something in the little boys ear, causing him to giggle. "Let's do it!"

"Boys..." Ally gave them a glance, wondering what they could be talking about.

"Want some shaving cream?" Austin asked, approaching her, Alex on his heals.

"No..." she was still confused.

"Get her!" Austin told his son as they came faster and shook their faces and the shaving cream went all over Ally's face.

"S-Stop it!" she laughed, waving her arms around in protest as they all giggled. "Seriously..." She couldn't help but laugh again.

They pulled away when they thought she had enough. "Think she's had enough dad?"

Austin laughed. "Considering there's barley anymore shaving cream left on our faces, yes. We've done our job."

"Yeah, and you made a mess," Ally mumbled.

"Wasn't it fun though, Alls?" Austin asked.

"It was, but I expect this mess cleaned up when I get out of the shower," she laughed a little and exited the kitchen just as Andrew and Ariel came in. She ran her fingers down their cheeks as a way of saying good morning; she couldn't kiss them on the head or their heads would get covered with shaving cream; she went upstairs.

"Why is mommy's face covered in shaving cream?" Ariel asked, raising her eyebrow, looked at Andrew, who looked amused; then back at Austin and Alex.

They told her about what he andAlex had did, which caused Andrew to laugh, but Ariel to just roll her eyes. "Boys," she said.

"Boys are better than girls!" Alex spowled in defense as Austin cleaned up the shaving cream from the floor.

"Yeah," Andrew agreed, standing by his brother.

"You don't think boys are better, do you daddy?" Arielasked.

Austin threw away the napkin and sat down on the table. "Sweetheart, I may be your father and I may be your friend, but baby girl, Austin Monica Moon, is a boy," he said, high-fiving Andrew and Alex as they did a little dance.

Ally came back downstairs. "Mom, help me out here. Girls are better than boys right?"

"Of course they are!" Ally exclaimed. "And more mature, too."

"Whatever," Austin rolled his eyes and smiled sheepishly.

* * *

"Go on sweetie go play," Piper said to Jason as she gently pushed him towards the playground where Alex Ariel and Andrew were.

Austin and Ally sat on the bench next to Piper, watching their kids play. "So how are things?" Austin asked his sister.

"Alright," she answered.

Just by the way she said it Austin could tell something was wrong. "Are you sure?"

"Everything is _fine_ ," her voice rose. He wasn't used to seeing her this way, she was usually a happy person, and she talked more too.

Piper kept her eyes on Jason, where he just ssat on the playground area. He wasn't smiling. He wasn't playing with the other kids. He didn't look...happy. "I know it's not fine, you got that look in your eye..." he stopped taking.

Ally leaned onto Austin's shoulder and kissed his cheek and whispered in his ear, "Don't push it sweetheart."

Austin said nothing. He knew what was concerning her. Every parent wanted their child to be happy. Jason knew he wasn't related to Piper, he knew that for awhile now, but he still called Piper his mom; which she technically was. She may have not been his biological mother, but she's the one that raised him.

But he didn't believe that was all that was bothering her. Elliot had just left for Afghanistan to fight in the war for nine months, which didn't help anything. Jason was probably sad because of that too, he called Elliot his father because he didn't know his real father. Piper told him about Chase, but not about the things he had done. He was too young for that, the boy was only six, but he was smart. Smarter than most boys his age.

"Just don't mention E-L-L-I-" Ally started, but was cut off.

"I can hear you you know," Piper said, finally turning to them. "And...i-it's okay. He'll be fine. He told me," she said, faking a smile.

"I know that smile was fake," Austin said.

"Well sometimes in life you have to fake a smile and move on," she said quietly, not looking at them this time.

Austinsighed and frowned.

"So, um," Ally spoke up, "how's the teaching going?" she asked, trying to change the mood.

Piper and the rest of the people that worked at Lincoln and had finally raised the money two years ago. The new school was about two years old now; it was still named Lincoln. Jason went there along with the triplets. Memories flashed in Austin's head. The fire. Ally screaming when she fractured her leg...everything that day. He remembered it like yesterday, but yesterday was only Friday, and no school had burnt down yesterday, not that he knew of. Lincoln looked different than it was before it burnt down; it was also relocated. It was still the good school it had always been.

"Good," she finally smiled. "It seems to be the only thing I have left but Jason right now."

Austin suddenly felt angry. "Don't say that! You have us! And if you're not grateful for that then I don't knowhat to tell you. You still like to surf, don't you? Ariel loves surfing with you, don't you _enjoy_ that?"

"Austin, you don't get it," she said, "you never will."

He was about to protest, but he closed his mouth whenhe realized she was right.

"And don't tell me I'm ungrateful," she continued. "Because I try my best to count my blessings everyday.'

There was a silence, and Austin watched Ariel approach Jason, and Austin smiled to himself. He always thought his daughter liked Jason. They weren't technically related, and they both knew that. It wouldn't be wrong if they did either.

He watched them talk, and he finally saw Jason smile and laugh. He glanced at Piper, who was smiling because he was smiling.

* * *

When they got home from the park, Austin and Ally cooked dinner, gave the triplets their baths, and put them to bed.

The three liked to sleep on the couch on the weekend's, all cuddled up against each other, and Prince joined them. He loved the triplets.

Austin walked in at that moment, stopping and watching with a smile. She was so good with them.

"Can you sing to us, mom?" Andrew asked. He loved his mother's voice.

Ally nodded and began singing them a lullaby.

 _"Just close your eeye's,_

 _The sun is going down,_

 _You'll be alright,_

 _No one can hurt you now,_

 _Come morning light,_

 _You and I will be safe and sound..."_

Her voice faded, ending the lullaby. Austin sighed happily.

"Can you sing it again, please?" Alex said tiredly, his eyes barely opened.

"Shh," Ally whispered, kissing his forehead. "Just go to sleep."

"Goodnight mommy," Ariel said.

"Goodnight loves," she said as she kissed their cheeks and watched them sleep for a fall asleep.

Austin came to join her, and she winced a little when she felt his hands wrap around her stomach from behind her. "Where you hear the whole time?" Ally asked, knowing the answer. She just wanted to see if he was being honest.

"Yeah," he said, seeming a little embarrassed. He leaned his head on her shoulder and closed his eyes, then brought his head back up and kissed her cheek. "I love you all," he whispered to his family. "I hope you know that."

 **Sorry it's late, I've been having trouble writing it for some reason, but I hope you enjoyed it because I know I did :)**

 **QOTD: A &Amovie or spin-off? And why?**

 **MA:Honestly spin-off cause I'd love to see something like that with Auslly's kids growing up and stuff, kinda like GMW. That'd be awesome.**

 **The song is Safe and Sound by Taylor Swift.**

 **Please leave me a review :)**


	3. Andrew's First Boy's Night

Andrew wiggled out of his bed where he had been sleeping, wet, warm tears in his eyes. He had a nightmare. He and his siblings had been separated, and his mother and father had died tragically. He didn't remember how or what it was that killed them.

He got on his feet, his heart beating out of his chest. Andrew went back to his bed, leaned over, grabbed his bear, and walked out into the hallway. He glaced into Alex's room. He was there. His roll had it's stuff in it, unlike in the dream where he looked in and there was nothing in the room but carpet. He was asleep, snoring. Andrew smiled through his tears and went to Ariel's room. She was asleep too, on her side, and her room wasn't empty either like it was. He smiled again. His sister and brother was safe.

That's when he went faster and that lead him to his parents' room. He sighed in relief. They were there, in bed. His daddy was snoring, like Alex. And his mommy was snuggled into his chest. _How can she sleep through that?_ Andrew thought, tilting his head.

"Daddy," he shook his father, and he shifted and stopped snoring, but he didn't open his eyes. "Daddy," he tried again, this time a little louder.

"Your son," a voice said. Ally. She wasn't really awake. Her eyes were closed as she turned hee back to him.

"My son?" Austin asked, eyes still closed. "He's your son too," he muttered.

"He wants you, that's why he said 'daddy'." The way she said "daddy" was as if she was teaching him a new word. But it wasn't new. Austin was used to being called daddy by now.

Austin's eyes opened. "What is it Andrew?" he asked, still not awake. He didn't sound annoyed, nor gentle. He just sounded tired.

"I had a nightmare," he said quietly, and Austin sat up, suddenly he was more awake. He sat up in the bed.

"What was it?"

Andrew told his father his dream. "I-It was scary dad," he teared up just thinking about it.

Austin hugged his son. "Shhh," he soothed. "It was just a dream, it's over now," he rubbed Andrew's back and he cried into him.

They pulled away. "Now," Austin said, bringing Andrew to face him, "what do us Moon's always say about sticking together?"

"Moon's stick together," Andrew answered.

"And?" Austin smiled, raising his eyebrows.

"And when we're together, we can go father than the moon," he smiled slightly.

Austin nodded and smiled. "Together we're stronger. We get over our fears together."

"What are you scared of?"

"Well, sometimes," he gestured his son to get closer, and he did, "I'm afraid of your mother."

Andrew laughed lightly.

"But in all seriousness, I'm...I'm afraid of storms."

"Why?'

"I don't know." He was lying. He didn't want to put those kind of images in Andrew's mind, considering he just had a nightmare. But the real reason he was afraid of thunderstorms was because his parents and brother died in one. It always haunted him. The triplets knew their other grandparents and Uncle were dead, but they didn't know how. They never asked. The only people that knew in this house was him and Ally.

Pain hit him, and he missed them.

He wanted to cry.

But not in front of Andrew. "C'mon," he patted his shoulders and put on his shoes.

"Where are we going?" Andrew asked.

"Just put your shoes on, and don't wake anyone up."

With a small nod, Andrew did as ordered. He knew his father wouldn't tell him where they going. He watched his mother sleeping, dead to the world. He knew she was tired from taking care of all of them, and working all day.

Andrew went into the hall, following Austin downstairs. "Quiet, now," Austin whispered as they stuck downstairs and out the door and into the car. They drove in silence, and Austin typed a few buttons; then held the phone to his ear.

"Who are you-"

"Sh," Austin shushed his mouth with his finger. After a few dials, it answered, and Austin pushed the speaker button.

"Hello?" a deep, tired voice answered the phone.

"Hey, Patrick!" Austin said excitedly. "Great! You're awake, wanna have a guys night with Andrew and I?"

"This late?" he asked. "It's almost 2 in the morning!"

"So meet us there?"

"But A-"

"Great! See ya there!"

"Wait I-"

Austin already hung up, then called Dez and Gavin. Dez sounded energized, as always, but Gavin sounded angry. He was never a morning person. But he agreed to come.

"C'mon Andrew," Austin said, stepping out of the car and he took the boys hand.

"Dad, why are we at the gas station?"

"You need some cheering up, and, I thought this was the perfect way to do it."

"So taking me to the gas station cheers me up how...?" Andrew asked, tilting his head.

Austin ruffled his hair. "You'll see."

* * *

They waited for about ten minutes for the other guys on the sidewalk outside of the gas station. "This is so fun," Andrew said sarcastically, putting his elbows on his cheeks; he was shivering.

Austin frowned. Maybe this wasn't the best idea. It was October, and it was starting to get cold out at this time of night. "Here, this'll keep ya warm." He took his warm coat off and put it on his son.

"Thanks dad," he said, teeth no longer chattering.

A car pulled up in the driveway, and the headlights shined on Austin and Andrew's faces. The car came to a halt and Patrick came out. "Uncle Patrick!" Andrew shouted excitedly, running to him.

"Hey man!" Patrick hugged him and picked him up. "You're getting big!" Patrick didn't get to see the triplet's or even Ally that often anymore. He was a Senior at Marino High, and he took it very seriously.

"I _am_ the oldest!" Andrew pointed out once again, his head up. He was showing off. Something he got from Austin at times.

Another car pulled up, which was Gavin's. Gavin wentoutt of one side and Dez came out the other. "You better have a good reason, Moon," Gavin growled, taking a few steps forward, his steps loud, and Andrew winced. Gavin was always mad, it seemed like.

"Calm down dude," Dez said, catching up to him. "So why did you call us?" he asked Austin as he smiled at Andrew. Andrew smiled back.

"I think Andrew is old enough, so he's the newest member of our boys nights."

"That's _all_?" Gavin asked. "Why didn't you do this tomorrow when we were actually awake?"

"He has school tomorrow," Austin reminded his friend gently. "And plus, he had a nightmare, and I thought this would cheer him up. He was crying."

Gavin's eyes soften. "Oh," he shuffled his feet. Sorry to hear that, kid." He wasn't exactly good with kids. That was only because he wasn't around them that much. Sure, he was around Patrick when he was younger but that was when he was twelve. He was better with kids around teenagers.

"Call it," Austin said, holding the penny.

Patrick explained that they flipped a coin to determine who would pay for all the food. "Oh, okay," Andrew nodded.

"Heads," Patrick said.

"Tails!' Dez said excitedly.

"Dez, why do you always pick tails?"

Dez shrugged. "Dunno, I guess I justlike the sound of it."

"Idiot," Gavin muttered.

"Dawww is wittle Gavie grumpy because he was woken up by wittle ole Austin?" Dez said in a babish voice.

"Shut up!" Gavin hissed.

"I'll stop when you stop being mad all the time for no reason!" Dez argued.

"You have no _idea_ what I'm going through."

Dez stopped talking. He didn't know what he was going through. Gavin told them that Jeanette, his girlfriend, was no longer on remission. She had gotten lung cancer before Andrew was born. He loved Jeanette, and sometimes Andrew wondered how someone as sweet as Jeanette would be with someone like Gavin. Sure he meant well, but he just always seemed so mad. And Andrew wondered why. Even though his girlfriend had cancer, that didn't give him the right to act that way. But Ally always told him that anger was sadness and depression. Those emotions could cause someone to be cold. She also taught him about insecurity; that could have been one of Gavin's problems. He knew Gavin had a lot of problems.

Austin said nothing else and just flipped the coin. "Heads."

"Danmmit," Patrick groaned.

"Don't say that," Dez smacked Patrick's head lightly as a warning. "Lttle ears," he said more gently, and placed his hands on both of Andrew's ears then let them go.

* * *

Andrew took a sip of his smoothie, feeling awkward because it was just him and Gavin on the sidewalk outside the gas station. His father and the other guys where still getting their stuff.

Heglanced at Gavin, and Gavin awkwardly glaced back. He wasn't eating anything, he simply said he wasn't hungry. "You don't like kids, do you?" Andrew asked quietly.

Gavin lookedback at him and shifted, his hand going in the back of his neck. "It's just...I'm not around kids all that much. It's not you; it's not your sister and brother. It's me," he explained slowly.

Andrew just nodded his head, then spoke again. "When did you meet my mom?" he asked.

"Well," Gavin started awkwardly. "I was in seventh grade. I thought your mother was so amazing and beautiful, like she is today. I had a big crush on her."

"You're _kidding_!" His eyes wided. His mother never told him that! He never knew that Gavin once liked Ally.

He shook his head. "I'm serious."

"When did you meet my dad?"

"About in fifth grade," he answered, looking as if there was more than he was letting on.

Austin and the rest of the guys came out with chips, and sat down and talked.

* * *

The next morning it was hard for Andrew to keep his eyes opened. He felt so tired and beat from the previous night. Before he knew it, his head went in his bowl of cereal, causing his siblings to laugh.

"Honey," Ally laughed a little putting his headup and wiping his face with a napkin. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he answered. _And awake now!_ he added to himself, and Ally took the cereal bowl and washed it.

The ttoaster made a "ding" sound. "Toast is ready Aus," Ally said, and when he didn't answer or come running for it like he usually did, Ally turned to see Austin asleep on the table. "Austin?"

"Dad!" Andrew nudged him, and hejerked awake. "Your toast is ready," he said.

"Oh, right," he said as he got on his feet and put the butter and jelly out.

Austin had told Andrew not totell Ally about last night. He and Andrew both knew that Ally wouldn't be too keen about Austin taking him out on a school night; especially in the middle of the night.

"Why are you so tired?" Ariel asked. "You're always energetic in the morning."

Andrew shrugged, not knowing what else he could do. If he told Ariel then she'd tell on him, getting Austin in trouble. Maybe Alex, he doesn't have a big mouth, he thought to himself.

"You're weird," Ariel giggled, taking another bite of her toast.

 **Sorry I haven't been on, I just keep getting stuck. But starting today is the start of Christmas Break! Thank God! So I've felt like crap all day yesterday and today cause I'm sick and was forced to go to school so yeah.**

 **QOFD: Raura of Auslly?**

 **MA: Auslly cause it's actually real unlike Raura unfortunately :(. But we may not have Raura, but we'll ALWAYS have Auslly!**

 **Anyway, I hoped you have a good break. Sleep with a night light so the pillow monster won't get you, he likes to come out this time of season ;). Did you get that reference? No? Okay.**


	4. What To Expect When Your Expecting

"Mom, do we _have_ to walk to school?" Alex whined as they walked down their block.

"It's a beautiful day Alex," Ally answered as she walked Prince on his leash.

Ariel nodded in agreement. It was beautiful. Birds where chirping and the sun was out. It was as if nothing could go wrong. She liked nature, and all of its beauty. "Mommy, can I walk Prince?" she asked.

"You did last time!" Andrew spoke up.

"I thought you did last time!" Alex pointed at him accusingly. "So it's my turn."

"No," Ariel shook her head at both of them. "It's mine!" This got all of them to start arguing while Ally got in the middle, Prince's leash tangling around her. Andrew and Alex started yelling in each other's faces while Ariel covered her eyes. _Why can't my family be normal? I'm a good person._

"Whoa whoa!" Ally broke all three of them apart. "Hey hey, back off! Or I'm not letting any of you walk him," she said.

They stared at her for a few minutes. "She started it," Alex pointed to Ariel.

Ariel was about to protest, but Ally beat her to it. "I don't care who started it I'll finish it," Ally said firmly.

"Sorry mommy," they all said.

Ally's gaze softened. "Now, who's turn was it really?" she asked gently.

"Me!"

"No, me!"

"Pick me mom, I'm your favorite," Alex said, smiling.

"Very funny," Ally rolled her eyes at her son, shaking her head and laughing. Suddenly her phone buzzed. "Here Ariel, you hold Prince's leash while I answer this call." She gave her daughter the leash.

Ariel stuck her tongue out at her brothers, that where both shaking their heads as she showed off.

"Hello?"

"Hey Ally," Jason's voice said through the phone, sounding distressed about something.

"Jason? Where's your mother?" Ally asked, surprised. Why would Jason be calling her.

"Uh...she's...busy right now."

"Busy?"

"She's throwing up," he said slowly.

"Oh, then-"

"Give it to me," Piper's voice came into the conversation. Her tone was impatient and it sounded exhausted. Jason must have did as ordered right away, because the phone went straight to Piper.

"Are you okay?" Ally asked in concern.

"What do you think?" she snapped.

"Okay, okay, dumb question. Why are you calling?"

"I was wondering if you could watch the kids for me. I already called in sick and I don't have a sub."

"Piper..." Her and Austin both weren't working today, and they were looking forward to some alone time, but if she watched Piper's students, they wouldn't have any time alone. Ally loved the triplets to death, but every wife needed alone time with her hubby.

"Please Ally. They really like you," she begged.

Ally sighed. "Fine."

"Thanks so much, I owe you one!" Then she hung up.

"Who was it?' Andrew asked.

"Your aunt Piper, apparently she's sick and needs me to watch her fourth graders. So it looks like mom is coming to school with you today."

* * *

Ariel stayed behind with Jason as they walked him home after school. "I hope my mom's okay," he said.

"I'm sure she'll be fine" she assured her friend, taking his hand and he smiled at her, the smallest bit of blush forming on his face.

"You have such pretty eyes," she said dreamily. "Did I say that out loud?" Now it was her turn to blush as she put her head down, embarrassed.

Jason put her head up by placing her finger on her chin, and she faced him. "Thanks," he said, "you have pretty eyes too. And, a pretty face." He smiled as he looked at her. It was funny how Jason considered Alex and Andrew as his cousins, but Ariel? He didn't see her as a cousin. He wasn't related to her, and if he was, that'd be wrong. But he wasn't. He wasn't related in anyway to Ariel.

Piper still lived in the apartment that she was in since she moved to Miami. She had wanted to move for a while now, but just didn't have the money.

Austin knocked on the door, and after a few knocks, Piper answered. "Hey," Austin said, about to go in for a hug.

"Don't touch me," she said, and Austin backed away.

"Sorry, gosh" Austin said.

Ally looked at Piper. She wasn't herself. She hadn't be herself for awhile. Something was going on. "Piper, can I talk to you for a second? Alone?"

Piper softened. "Sure."

Austin and the kids entered the apartment while Ally and Piper went outside and sat down on the steps below her house. "So what's up?" Piper asked. "And thanks for watching the kids, that was nice of you."

"No problem," Ally said.

"They didn't give you any trouble right?"

"Nah, they were very polite and well-behaved."

"Oh, good, I'm glad."

Ally shifted. "Piper, you've been getting sick a lot lately, and, well, have you been to a doctor lately?" she asked awkwardly. Ally wished she could be less awkward about things, but she couldn't help who she was.

"No, I just thought it was..." she trailed off. "I don't know what's wrong with me," she said quietly. "Sometimes I'm fine then others I just wanna rip someones head off. I'm worried Jason is starting to be a little afraid of me at times. I always like to chase him around the apartment but lately I've felt no energy to; it's as if something sucks the life out of me. I can't figure it."

Ally nodded. "Have you been feeling tired a lot?"

"Well yeah, that's what I said!"

"Okay. What do you mean by you think Jase is afraid of you?"

"Well lately I've been snapping athim for no reason."

"So you've been having mood swings." Piper nodded. t wasn't a question, really, it was a statement. Taking a deep breath, she prepared herself for her most important question. "Do you think...you might be...pregnant?"

Piper's eyes widened. "P-Pregnant?"

"You seem to have the symptoms it comes with: tiredness, mood swings, nausea..."

"I can't be! Elliot and I are always..." suddenly she looked troubled. "The night before he left, we didn't use anything. Oh God...I'm an idiot! We're both idiots! Stupid! Stupid! Stu-"

"Get a hold of yourself!" Ally shook her. "We don't know for sure yet." She tried to be optimistic. But why was Piper freaking out so much? Children whereone of the greatest blessings one could get. Well, it was understandable. She and Elliot weren't married, and she knew if she really was pregnant, she'd have to tell Elliot.

"Yeah but with all the symptoms..."

Ally grabbed her shoulders. "It's gonna be okay. I'm gonna get the pregnancy tests, and I'll give them to you tonight. We'll do it together."

* * *

"Wait, Austin I need to make a quick stop at the store," Ally said.

"For what?" he asked.

"Uh..." she looked in the back where the triplets were; they all looked tired, but just in case, she whispered in his ear.

Austin's foot stepped on the brakes once the light was red. "PIPER'S P-"

"Shh! We don't know for sure!" Ally whispered harshly. "Don't tell the kids yet."

"Okay," Austin said quietly, and pulled up into the parking lot of the store.

"I'll be right back," Ally said, stepping out of the car.

* * *

"Can you look Ally?" Piper asked nervously. "I...I'm scared."

Ally nodded. "Of course." She looked at the pregnacy test. Two pink lines. Ally couldn't help but smile. She simply showed Piper the test. "Congrats," she smiled.

Piper smiled lightly. "Wow...so there's really another life in there?" She placed her hand on her stomach.

"Yeah," Ally smiled, taking her hand.

"That's incredible! I'm going to be a mom! Again!" She bounced up and down.

Jase came into the room in his pajamas, rubbing his eyes. "What's all the yelling about?" he asked tiredly. Ally opened, her mouth, but Piper said, "I'll tell him."

Jason waited patiently. "Jase," she brought the little boy closer and set him on her lap. "How do you feel about becoming a big brother?' she asked gently.

He smiled. "Really?! I'm gonna have a little sister or brother?!" He got off her lap and bounced around; Ally and Piper smiled at the sight of the excited boy.

"We're gonna do everything together. Me and the little guy, and-"

"It could be a girl, buddy," Piper said.

"Well you never know," Ally shrugged.

Jason bounced out of the room, ignoring what Ally said out of his own excitement. They watched him go with a laugh. "He's gonna be a great big brother," Piper said. "Hopefully he won't get jealous."

"I'm sure it'll happen, it's human nature. But he'll get over it, and I know he's gonna love his new sibling." Ally felt a wave of worry come over her. Elliot wouldn't be here to help Piper through the pregnancy; he could even miss the birth of his own child.

* * *

Ally came home at about 9:00; everything on her body felt exhausted. Austin was watching TV with his hand in the popcorn bowl. When he saw her he stood up. "Hey," he said, giving her a kiss and hug and looked at her. "So..."

"Looks like you're going to be an uncle again," she smiled, and Austin smiled to excitedly. He turned off the TV and lead her to their room. Ally looked in each of the triplets' rooms and kissed their cheeks as they slept.

They then entered their room and took off their shoes. Austin wrapped his arms around her. "Goodnight Ally, I love you," he whispered.

"Love you too," she said drowsily, and they let sleep overtake them.

 **Eh...This definitely isn't my best work, I guess I was just lazy. Hope you liked it anyway!**

 **QOTD: Will you continue writing FanFiction's after the show ends?**

 **MA: OF COURSE! :D**


	5. Mommy And Daddy To The Rescue

Thunder boomed, jolting Andrew awake. Scared, he went ran into Alex's room. "Alex!" he whispered loudly, jumping onto his brothers bed with his teddy bear in his hand.

"What?" he groaned, eyes still closed.

"Don't you here the thunder?" Andrew went under the blanket and crawled down the bed.

"What thunder? And what are you _doing_?"

Andrew pocked his head up from the bottom of the bed and looked down the hall. "Something is out there," he said quietly, shuttering.

"Oh, your imagination." Alex sat up, squinting his eyes. "There's nothing there, wait..." he joined Andrew under the blanket. "Someone's coming!" The figure was slow as it approached the scared boys. It was small, and it looked as if it was making fire in its hands because there was a glimmer of light from where they were.

Alex hugged his brother and shivered. "It was nice knowing you bro," he said tearfully.

"You too." They continued hugging as the figure got closer and closer until it reached the room. They screamed, and the "figure" screamed with the flashlight shining in the boys faces.

They soon realized it was just their sister. "Ariel!" They both groaned.

"I didn't mean to scare you," she whispered, "I think the power went out."

"Scared?" Alex asked as if he didn't even know the word. "Pst, I wasn't scared!"

"Me neither," Andrew said nonchalantly.

"Oh yeah, then why are you still hugging?" Ariel challenged with a smirk.

The boys looked at each other and awkwardly wiggled out of each others grip. "Well, I'm not scared of no thunder that Andrew was scared about," Alex said, standing on his bed just to prove his point even more. It was because of his pride. "Thunder never-" Suddenly a loud crash filled the room. Thunder. "MOMMY!" he screamed, running down the hall into his parents room followed by his siblings.

Alex lead them, not really knowing his sense of direction; it was pitch black and the dark scared all three of them. They couldn't turn on any lights because the power was out. Ariel had dropped the flashlight when they ran out screaming.

Alex stopped when he crashed his head into something, causing Ariel to crash into him, and Andrew to crash into Ariel. They all fell down at once and Alex scratched his head, looking up at what he bumped into dispit the darkness. "What's going on here?" It was Ally.

"Mommy!" They said in unison, hugging her.

"What's all the screaming about?" she asked gently, hugging them and bending down to their level as they kissed her cheeks, happy that their mommy was there to comfort them and scare their fears away.

"The thunder," Ariel explained.

"Aww, come on, let's go into the living room. I'll light some candles, it's gonna be fine." She took Andrew and Ariel's hands and Alex crawled into her leg and held on. He didn't say anything, but he was too proud to admit that he was truly afraid.

* * *

As promised, Ally lite the candles on the coffee table and wrapped children into blankets. "Is that better?" she asked, tucking them in.

"Yes mommy," Ariel said.

More thunder boomed, and the three hid under the covers.

Austin watched his scared triplets and frowned. Smiling lightly, an idea hatched in his brain. He grabbed his guitar and summed a few keys of a familiar song as he approached his wife and kids. Ally smiled as he played.

 _Why are there so many songs about rainbows?_

 _And what's on the other side?_  
 _Rainbows are visions_  
 _But only illusions_  
 _And rainbows have nothing to hide_

 _So we've been told_  
 _And some choose to believe it_  
 _I know they're wrong, wait and see_  
 _Some day we'll find it_  
 _The rainbow connection_  
 _The lovers, the dreamers, and me._ " The triplets stood up and started to sing along, and Ally joined him on the next verse.

 _"Who said that every wish_  
 _Would be heard and answered?_  
 _When wished on the morning star_  
 _Somebody thought of that_  
 _And someone believed it_  
 _And look what it's done so far_

 _What's so amazing_  
 _That keeps us stargazing_  
 _And what do we think we might see_  
 _Someday we'll find it_  
 _The rainbow connection_  
 _The lovers, the dreamers, and me_

 _All of us under its spell, we know that it's probably magic_

 _Have you been half asleep?_ " All of them joined in now.  
 _"And have you heard voices?_  
 _I've heard them calling my name_  
 _Is this the sweet sound_  
 _That called the young sailors?_  
 _The voice might be one in the same_

 _I've heard it too many times to ignore it_  
 _It's something that I'm supposed to be_  
 _Someday we'll find it_  
 _The rainbow connection_  
 _The lovers, the dreamers and me_

 _La da da di da da dum da duh da da dum di da ohhh."_

By the time the song ended, the three calmed down. The song always calmed them down.

Austin put down the guitar and sat next to Ally on the couch; she leaned her head on his chest as they watched Alex attempting to play the guitar and Ariel helping him. She knew some of the notes that Austin taught her.

Thunder boomed once again and lighting crashed. Andrew craweled onto Austin'a leg. "Hi dad," he said quietly.

Austin sat up and picked him up. "Don't be scared. Remember that talk we had the other night about our fears?"

Andrew nodded and smiled, telling his father that Moons stuck together. He then went back to his brother and sister.

"Austin? Ally whispered.

"Yeah?" he asked, looking at her.

"I love you." She kissed his cheek.

The last thing she heard before falling asleep was "I love you too Alls."

* * *

 **Short I know but I like it :)**

 **Hope everyone had a good Christmas!**

 **QOTD: If you were to change the name of A &A what would it be?**

 **MA: Hmm...probably Fearsome Foursome or something.**


	6. IMPORTANT AUTHORS NOTE

**Hey friends. So...I was thinking about putting this story on hiatus. I just haven't gotten that much inspiration lately for this story. I've been working on Love Is Waiting more because I've had more ideas for it. But anyways, I'm not gonna delete it so don't worry.**

 **I'm just asking for a break. Please try to understand. Those of you working on two or more stories would know it's hard to do.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Ashley :)**


	7. Bets And Babies

**So I finally got some inspiration on this story! Yaaayyy! (My impression of you guys). I hope you're still reading, I know it's been awhile and I'm sorry :( I just didn't have any motivation to write this.**

 **But anyway, here's a new chapter for ya :)**

Ally woke up to the humming of the fan. She was about to get up, but a soft groan of protest came from behind her. Austin. "What is you big baby?" she said teasingly.

"Stay with me," he moaned, still not opening his eyes and extending his hand and trying to find hers.

"It might help to open your eyes," she giggled, but he still tried to get to her hand.

His hand met her foot.

"That's my foot."

It went silently up.

"That's my leg."

It went up more.

"That's my knee."

It went up farther.

"That's my stomach."

It remained on her belly. "Austin," she started slowly, "what are you…?" If she had looked under the covers, where he was, she would see the sleepy blonde smirking. But she didn't see it, so she was taken aback when he started tickling her. "A-Austin, s-stop!" She giggled, arms waving in protest. He went on tickling her until she thought she had died, but he finally stopped, and sat up, rubbing his eyes and opening them.

"Good morning," Austin said, finally grabbing her hands and pulling her closer. They eventually plopped down, her head on his chest, listening to his calm, serene heartbeat.

"Morning," she whispered before she forgot. She suddenly felt tired. And lying there, warm in Austin's embrace, she still got those chills as she did when they were in high school, when they were engaged, and married, and with kids of their own. That amazing feeling had never gone away, no matter how hard she tried.

"Can't we stay like this?" he asked, breath tickling her neck.

"As much as I'd like that sweetheart, I can't."

"Why?" He sounded like a child that was upset because his mother didn't get him candy

"I promised your sister I'd be there for her ultrasound," she reminded him. Did he forget? How _could_ he forget something so important? _He does have a lot on his mind,_ Ally reasoned.

"That's _today?_ It's already been four months?"

"Yep."

"Wow, another baby Moon. What do you think it'll be?"

"She's totally having a girl," Ally said in a matter-of-fact tone, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. _We could use another girl in our family. There's too many boys,_ she thought. Not that she didn't love all the boys, she did with all her heart but she wanted another girl in the family.

"Nah, she's _defiantly_ having a boy," Austin said, sitting up and folding his arms. He was trying to be serious, but there was a glimmer of amusement in his eyes that anyone could obviously see.

"Really?" Ally asked slowly, folding her arms as well, now amused by her husband.

"Really. Matter of fact, I bet you that Piper is having a boy."

"Okay, okay," Ally thought for a moment about it. She was about to shake his hand, but she stopped. "What does the loser get?"

"Hmm," Austin looked up in thought. "Ah! Loser has to pay $20, _and_ can't kiss the winner for two days." He did a little dance on the bed, proud of his idea.

"Oh you are so on!" She shook his hand and kissed him softly. But she felt doubt grow deep inside her. If she lost, she'd have to give Austin $20, which she didn't mind as much. But not kissing him for a whole two days? That was going to be the challenge.

* * *

"It's quiet," he said as he held her. "Too quiet."

"Shall we see what those munchkins are up to?" Ally smirked, and Austin nodded.

It was December, and the first day of winter break. The triplets had invited a few of their friends for a sleepover. There were seven of them all together; Andrew's friend David, Ariel's friend Shelly, and Alex's friend Cory. There was also Jason, who was a friend to all of them.

They snuck down stairs.

Silence.

The seven friends had built a fort in the living room. "Awww they're so precious!" Ally tried to keep her voice low, not wanting her squealing to wake them up. There was a hole at the top of the fort, where Austin and Ally were peeking in on the sleeping children.

"Look at Ariel," Austin whispered, pointing at his daughter that was snuggling into Jason like he was a teddy bear. They both smiled at this. Jason had took his mother's last name, all though he thought of himself as at Moon, but he was a Jefferson, his mother's last name. _Maybe someday Ariel will be Ariel Jefferson,_ Ally thought, trying to control her inner fangirl.

"Let's get some breakfast," Ally whispered.

"Mk," he nodded enthusiastically as he trotted into the kitchen. _He thinks he's gonna win the bet. Huh!_ she thought, but she couldn't help but melt inside when he hugged her from behind where she was cutting up a banana. "Love you," he whispered, kissing her cheek and going into the pantry to get himself cereal.

"I'm really gonna miss your lips for two days," he said.

She realized that either way they weren't gonna be able to kiss each other. "Me too," she said, throwing away her banana peel in the trash and putting the newly cut fruit on a plate.

He poured his Rice Krispies in the bowl and added milk and sugar.

"You better not be getting that sugar all over the place," Ally warned, now sitting at the table, sipping her coffee. "Remember, I have eyes in the back of my head."

"I really doubt that Alls, I'm staring right at you and all I see is hair," he teased.

"You know what I mean. And, if you're spilling that everywhere, so help me, I can easily go two days without kissing you."

Austin snorted. "Says the girl that was mad at me for setting the kitchen on the fire and no more than an hour later kissing and hugging me." He raised his eyebrows and sat down next to her.

"It's not my fault you're so cute."

"Aww, you think I'm cute. That's embarrassing."

"We're married Austin," she giggled. "I love you so much." She leaned across the table and kissed him. _Boy, I'm gonna miss this. But...maybe (when I win) I can make him crack…_

* * *

"Are you nervous?" Ally asked, trying to keep her excitement in.

"A little," Piper said. They were in the waiting room.

"Don't be, and hey, you're starting to show!"

"Yeah," she smiled sheepishly, looking down at her growing belly.

Ally grew more serious. "How's Elliot taking all of this? I know I keep asking, but how is he?"

"He's good. Great, actually. He's super excited about all of this, which is...amazing. I'm surprised how mature he's handling it."

Nodding, Ally smiled lightly. She knew that Piper was saying this because they weren't married, and for some reason the guy would dump the girl once she told him news like this. "You've got a good guy," she said quietly. "He's going to be a great father to her."

Piper looked at her, waiting for her to say "him."

"Or him," she said quickly, laughing nervously. She didn't tell her friend about her and Austin's little bet, she decided there was no need to.

"We're so far apart, but he still makes time for me. He asks about Jase and the baby everyday. When I told him about my ultrasound today he told me to text him as soon as I found out." She smiled and rested her head back on the chair.

"I love love!" Ally squealed. "Love is like a flower, it starts out small and grows into something beautiful-"

"You've been hanging out with Dez haven't you?" Piper guessed, cocking her head back up.

"Well, Trish has. She really likes him. You know they're talking about moving in together."

" _Really?_ Cool. Love is in the air!"

It was nice to talk to her friend as if she was a teenager again, and she didn't have as much responsibilities. "You know, I kinda wish a certain military man would pop the question," Piper muttered a few moments later.

Ally didn't even think of that. Sure she _thought_ about it, but she was just so used to them dating that it would almost be weird that they'd get married, and Piper would no longer be a Moon anymore.

She opened her mouth to say something, but the nurse came out with a clipboard in her hands. "Piper Moon," the woman said.

She went completely white, hands clutching the sides of the chair. "It's okay," Ally soothed, helping Piper up from the seat and put her arm around her in comfort. "You're all right. It won't hurt, it's just an ultrasound." She continued soothing.

"Right, right," Piper said, skin turning it's normal color again. "Just an ultrasound." There was still worry in her voice.

At first, Ally couldn't figure why she was so scared, but she had to remember that Piper's best friend had died giving birth to Jason. Was she worried she was going to die giving birth? Or...the baby dying? Ally shuttered.

"She's a little nervous," she told the nurse as they made their way in. "First time and all," she added awkwardly.

* * *

"It's a girl." Pure happiness filled Piper's voice, even though she was only whispering.

"I knew it!" Ally clapped her hands together. "Congrats girl!" She hugged Piper quickly. "Austin owes me!"

"What?"

"Whhaaaatt?!" Ally played with her hair. "Nothing, don't worry about it." She really was happy Piper was having a daughter, but she still couldn't wait to rub it in Austin's face.

 _He's gonna have a hard time trying not to kiss me._

 **I hoped you liked the chapter! I'm actually kind of proud of it XD**

 **P.S I didn't spell check any of this so if there's any mistakes I apologize.**


	8. I Don't Know Just Read It XD

Ally pulled up in the driveway to see Austin playing football with the triplets in the yard. She smiled at the sight, watching them. Andrew ran, hugging the football close to him, looking over his shoulder. Alex ran after him, tackling him down and taking the football, throwing it to Austin, but Ariel ended up catching it. But that didn't stop Austin. He reached out for the ball, but Ariel already threw it to Andrew.

She came out of the car and closed the door, approaching her family. She was glad to hear them so happy. "Hey guys," she greeted once she was standing on the soft grass on their backyard.

Surprised, Austin stumbled and fell on his back. "Hi Austy," Ally repeated, trying not to snicker at her husband. Grass was in his hair.

He spit some out. "Hi beautiful." She looked like an angel with the bright sun reflecting on her head.

"Hey," he replied, about to get up, but a little voice made him go back down.

"Pile on Daddy!" Ariel announced, her brothers following, leaving the football abandon on the grass.

"No, _no!_ " Austin protested, trying not to laugh as he tried to get up, but the children were too fast for him. They pinned him down.

"Oh, hi Mommy," Andrew smiled at his mother.

"Wanna join us?" Ariel offered.

"We're like a big pile of poop!" Alex exclaimed, laughing as Austin kissed their cheeks.

"That's disgusting!" Ariel laughed.

"Well everyone poops Ari."

"Unless they're constipated," Andrew pointed out. They sprawled off of their father's body and ran inside, arguing about something different now.

Ally watched them go in, shaking her head in amusement and helping Austin up from where he was lying; she could tell the triplets had worn him out in the time she was gone for Piper's ultrasound, along with grabbing lunch so she was gone for about two hours all together.

She wondered if he was going to ask if he was having a niece or nephew. _He is tired,_ she considered. Ally decided to just hold out her hand. "$20 please."

Austin sighed. "It's a girl," he realized, smiling lightly and taking out his wallet and giving her her $20. "Go buy something pretty."

"I'm so happy for her!" Ally squealed. "The baby girl is going to have so much fun with her Aunt Ally!"

"Don't forget her Uncle Austin," he said proudly.

Ally laughed, pulling him into her embrace. She almost forgot about the other half of the bet. _Time to make him crack,_ she thought mischievously.

* * *

The family ate dinner quietly. "You know kids," Ally started the conversation, "this spaghetti reminds me of Lady and the Tramp when the two dogs kiss." She glanced at Austin, who was shaking his head and stabbing his food numerous times with his food.

"Are you gonna eat that Dad?" Alex asked, spaghetti sauce smeared all over his face.

"Of course I am!" he snapped.

"You got a little something," Andrew told his brother awkwardly, "like everywhere." He motioned his little hand. Like Ally, he hated messes.

Ally smiled and licked her hand, trying to get it off. "Mom!" he protested. "Stop!" He waved his hands in protest as she finished off with getting it off his cheeks with a napkin.

Ariel copied her mother, doing it to Austin by softly licking her finger and getting the spaghetti stain off her father's cheek. Austin smiled lightly, his daughter lifting his sad spirit that he couldn't kiss Ally until two whole days, today not even included.

He sighed, watching Ally eat. She even looked perfect when she ate. "So you guys, guess what gender your Aunt Piper is having?"

"Girl!" Ariel guessed. Well, stated. "I heard you and Daddy talking about it. Oh, Jason is going to make a great big brother!" she chirped.

"Hopefully he won't get jealous," said Andrew.

"He won't," Ariel assured him.

"It is natural Ari," Ally said gently. "I was jealous of Uncle Patrick when he was born. I felt like my parents didn't love me anymore."

"That won't happen to Jase," Ariel said, sounding shocked by her mother's words. "Aunt Piper loves him very much. He told me so. He says that every night she tucks him in and reads to him and gives him goodnight hugs and kisses, like you Mommy." There was a pause. "And Daddy," she said when Austin looked offended. "He also says his Daddy is fighting far away in Af...Afgan…"

"Afghanistan, sweetheart," Austin helped, smiling. The triplets didn't know about his real father. He didn't want to tell them. They were too young to know that stuff. They knew about Krystal, even though they never mentioned her. Piper and Elliot were basically Jason's adopted parents.

Ariel nodded enthusiastically. "Oh, that's it! Jason can pronounce so much words, no wonder he's in honors, getting A's in every subject. I have A's too, but I'm not in honors like him, and you know I think if I really tried-"

"Do you ever be quiet?" Alex muttered, rolling his eyes, trying to hide a smile as he finished his food.

* * *

 **Sorry it's so short! Please tell me what you think! :)**


	9. Flowers And Lost Bets

**Sorry I haven't been updating, I've been busy finishing up Love Is Waiting cause it's my most popular story right now; plus I started working on a new story (not gonna tell you, it's a surprise ;D).**

 **Hope you enjoy! Lots of Jason/Ariel fluff and of course Auslly.**

* * *

"Gimme another one," Jason whispered as Andrew handed him another flower that was on the blossoming tree. Jason happily took the flower and let go of it, watching it float down and Ariel caught it, as she did the rest of the flowers and looked at them in awe as if she'd never seen a flower before.

Jason watched her with an admiring smile as the pink flower danced up and down on her hands.

He glanced back at Andrew, who looked bored. "Not that this isn't fun…"

Jason didn't listen to the rest of Andrew's words, only heard him climbing down the tree and when he looked back he realized that Ariel had disappeared too. _Where…?_

"You dropped these," an amused voice came from behind him, causing him to squeak and lose his balance and stumble down onto the soft grass.

Ariel dropped the flowers and climbed down the tree quickly. "Jason!" she exclaimed as she made her way down. "Jason, are you okay?"

He fell on his back. It wasn't a hard fall, the tree branch wasn't very high. Blowing off a flower off his face, he nodded. "Fine." She helped him up.

"You know that was quite a fall. Are you lightheaded? My parents have lots of band aids for boo boo's. Your mom has some, right? Oh, we'll go ask her." She cheerfully took his hand in hers before he could say anything else. Ariel was always a talker; sometimes Jason couldn't even get out any words that he wanted to say without her constant chit-chat. Jason had always been a little anxious around her, that was mainly because he had an enormous crush on her basically since she was born.

"She might," he replied nervously as they made their way up the steps.

"Aunt Piper! Jase got hurt!" Ariel called as she opened the door.

"Hurt? What happened?" Piper demanded, getting up from the kitchen where she was playing a board game with Alex and Andrew and checking her son for injuries.

"I'm fine Mom," he assured her as he shooed her hands away and shaking the grass from his hair.

"It was my fault Piper," Ariel continued. "I scared him and he went falling down a tree and onto the grass."

"No, it was fault. I've should have been there," Piper said slowly.

Jason tilted his head at this. His mother always seemed to be her own worst enemy when there was really no need to be, and she always apologized for things she didn't need to. And when she talked to him about his real mother, she had a guilty look on her eye. Why would she be guilty? It's not like she was the reason his real mother died. And sometimes when she talked about Ariel's mother she'd look guilty, but that was only when she talked about how they went to highschool together, but still. He found his thoughts run away from him, and before he knew it he was sitting on the couch, band ads on his elbows, just now realizing that he was bleeding. He wasn't hurt, really, Piper always fussed over him as if she thought he was going to run away and leave her alone.

"Your turn Jase," Ariel said, nudging him.

Shaking himself, he looked at his cards. "Alex, do you have any three's?"

"No. Go fish," Alex replied quickly.

Jason was about to extended his arm and reach it to the deck of cards, but there was a knock on the door. _Uncle Austin and Aunt Ally,_ he guessed, disappointed that they had to leave, especially Ariel, who he wanted to be with all the time and the person he always thought of.

Then it would just be him, his mother, and his unborn sister.

Piper stood up from the table and opened the door to Austin and Ally, where Austin had lipstick all over his face. "Looks like you two had some fun after work," she teased, causing Ally to blush as well as her husband.

"I...I thought you said there was no lipstick on my face," Austin said sheepishly, turing to Ally.

"I lied," she laughed. "It wasn't my fault that you kissed me. I missed kissing you, even if it were for a day."

He had lost the bet. It didn't take long for him to crack. When they had both gotten home, she changed her clothes into a nice dress that was down to her knees. That immediately caused him to start drooling, and eventually leading to kissing, and kissing leading to, well, a make-out session.

"It's not my fault you're so cute," he smiled.

"It's not not my fault you bet on something unless you know for certain that you are right," she shot back, amusement dancing in her eyes.

"What was the bet?" Piper asked.

"Um…" they both started awkwardly.

"Oh yeah!" Alex interrupted, running to his Aunt, almost knocking down his siblings in the process. Once he reached her, he looked up with his knowing brown eyes. "Mommy and Daddy had a bet on what your baby was going to be."

"Oh really?" she raised her eyebrow. She didn't look mad, more amused.

"Yeah!" Ariel nodded enthusiastically, joining her brother's side. "Daddy thought your baby was going to be a boy…"

"And Mommy thought your baby was going to be a girl, and she was right!" Andrew concluded and the three of them smiled innocently with their teeth at their parents, who were giving them insincere looks, but they felt proud of themselves that they did all the explaining so their parents didn't have to.

Ally shook her head in amusement. She knew Piper would find out about their little bet eventually, with the little ears around, always watching. "Is that so?" Piper smiled warmly, bending down to their levels. "Well, nothing wrong with a little bet. And sometimes bets can even give you little prizes in the end, like a make-o-"

"Piper!" Ally swatted her shoulder. "I can't believe you were going to say that."

"Well, they're going to learn it eventually. And, that's not even the dirty part."

Austin snickered, hoping Ally wouldn't hear him, but she did, because he felt her elbow shove painfully in his stomach. "Does it have to do with your belly?" Andrew asked curiously, placing his hand on it.

"That's it!" Ariel snapped her fingers. "Aunt Piper, where do babies come from?" she asked, tilting her head.

"Now look what you've done," Ally murmured, and Piper shrugged innocently, but inside guilty that she ever said anything in the first place.

"Um…" she started awkwardly. "When...Er…"

"Go ahead Pips, tell the kids where babies come from," Austin smirked, clearly enjoying himself.

"Well...from...heaven! Of course!" she smiled and laughed nervously, faint blush on her cheeks.

"Yes," Jason nodded, "but how-"

"Alright time for everyone to go now no more questions for Piper!" She gave all three of them kisses and shooed the family away.

"Thanks for watching them!" Austin called before the door was slammed in his face.

"How does it really happen Mom?" Andrew asked, looking up at his mother as they went down the steps.

Ally shook her head. "I'll tell you when you're older."

"But Mommy-"

"Andrew Jackson Moon, listen to your mother," Austin said in a deep, unfriendly voice. He didn't mean to sound that way, but he didn't want to displease his wife or make her mad at him for trying to tell them teasingly where babies came from.

"Aw man!" they all sighed as they made their way out of the apartment complex and into the car.

* * *

 **Haha I like this chapter, hopefully you do too! :)**

 **Guest: Will Austin and Ally have any more kids in this story?**

 **Answer: Good question, but no, just the three :)**


	10. Mistake After Mistake

**HOLY DEZTIN! I FORGOT ALL ABOUT THIS UNTIL I GOT A REVIEW TELLING ME TO UPDATE I'M SO SORRY GUYS I HOPE YOU DIDN'T FORGOT ABOUT THIS I HAVEN'T UPDATED FOR ALMOST TWO MONTHS! DAMN! THAT'S TERRIBLE.**

 **HERE I OWN NOTHING!**

* * *

The sun shone brightly through the window and onto Ariel's little face. It had woken her up, and it was glad it did, because she remembered that her Uncle Patrick was coming for a visit today because he was on winter break as well. She and her brothers loved him, and this time he was bringing along his friend Hazel.

"Andrew! Alex!" she whispered, nudging her brothers awake, who were sleeping next to one another, hugging each other (which in her opinion was super weird for brothers to do that but then again she guessed that maybe they were afraid that something was going to get them in the night).

"What?" Andrew asked sleepily.

"Go back to bed Ariel," Alex moaned.

"What are you guys doing sleeping together?" asked Ariel, raising an eyebrow.

"This one"- Alex pointed to Andrew (who looked offended that his brother called him "this one") "-was scared that the boogie man was gonna get him."

"Why didn't he tell mom and dad?"

Alex shrugged. "Dunno, I think he's afraid."

"I am not!" Andrew argued, sticking his tongue out.

"Are to!"

"Am not!"

"Are to!"

"Am-"

"Guys!" Ariel interrupted them irritably. "Do you know what day it is?"

The boys looked up at her. "Tuesday?" Alex asked, cocking his head.

"No!" Ariel said, then realized she was partly wrong in saying it wasn't when it was crystal clear on Alex's calendar that it was Tuesday the 20th. "Well, not exactly. Uncle Patrick is coming today!" she said excitedly.

Her brothers perked up. "Uncle Patrick! I haven't seen him in forever!" said Alex as he got up from his bed.

Andrew stayed where he was, not moving as the smallest smirk formed on his face. It wasn't that long since he had seen Patrick. It wasn't too long ago when he woke up crying from that terrible nightmare and his father had taken him to go on a guys night. But he hadn't told his siblings or his mother about that night because he knew Ally wouldn't be too keen that they had gone out in the middle of the night.

"Me neither," he lied.

* * *

"Will he ever get here? He's taking forever!" complained Alex.

"Patience young grasshopper," Austin said, ruffling his son's hair. "Patrick is always late. He's a slow driver, but it's always good to be careful."

"I guess so," Alex sighed. A few moments went by, and in Alex's opinion it was the slowest few minutes of his life. "Ugghh!" he groaned, plopping down on the couch.

Ally shook her head. " _Patience_ ," she said.

Austin snorted and nudged her. "I wouldn't be one to talk, Alls. You're losing your patience yourself."

"No!" She stuck her tongue out.

"Real mature," Austin muttered, amused.

"Alright, how 'bout one of you go with Daddy to the pet store to get Prince some food? He's running low."

"Ariel volunteers as tribute!" Alex poked her.

"Stop!" she said. "You're being annoying!"

"Guys, please," Ally said, trying to calm them.

Austin put on his coat. "Alex, c'mon, you'll go with me." He gestured his hand.

"But I-"

"No buts. Put on your coat."

Alex sighed and did as ordered, standing by his father's side.

"Haha!" Andrew taunted.

"Shut up!"

"Alex," Austin said warningly.

"Sorry Dad," he apologized.

"Be safe Austin," Ally said. "Don't drive like a maniac!"

"When have I _ever_ drived like a maniac?" he asked, but he knew the answer to that as he moved closer to Ally.

"A lot of times." She looked at him with admiration and kissed him softly. "Love you."

"Love you too."

"Yuck!" Alex snorted in disgust, while Ariel looked at them dreamily, and Andrew covered both of his eyes. "Enough of this love stuff, let's go." He tugged on his Dad's arm, but it wasn't seeming to work, because they were so caught up in one of their "moments" as Ariel liked to call them. _It's not like they'll_ _never_ _see each other again!_ he thought.

Finally, they broke apart from their embrace and whatever they were whispering about stopped and whatever his mother was blushing and giggling about stopped; Austin grabbed the car keys and they were off.

"Dad, what were you and Mom talking about?" asked Alex.

Austin put his hand behind his neck. "N-Nothing."

"Are you lying? Was it about me?"

"No, it wasn't about you," murmured Austin.

"Then what was it about?"

"Er...I'll tell you when your older."

"Why not now?" He didn't mean to ask so much questions, but he remembered how the talk about where babies came from with Aunt Piper and how _that_ turned out. His father was acting the same exact way, except he seemed a little less defensive because Alex knew by now that _he_ didn't have the ability to get pregnant.

He saw the look on his father's face, which looked displeased with all of his questions, so he changed the subject and talked about Prince's food, which wasn't a very interesting subject but that was all he could think of at the moment of panic.

As they entered Petsmart, Alex decided that he should just stop talking because he didn't want to be an annoying rambler like Ariel. "Aww, look at all of the kittens Daddy!" Alex said excitedly as he ran to the cute little kittens and pet them, Austin hurrying after him.

"Don't run off like that," his father panted. "We just came here for food. Now take my hand and don't let go. I don't want you getting lost."

"Okay, okay." He grabbed his Daddy's hand and told himself not to let go no matter how cute the animal he saw he wasn't going to let go. But that only lasted about five seconds, because Alex saw the chubby little hamsters.

"Alex, I said not to run off!" Austin said once he caught his breath again. Once he was down scolding him, he softened and took ahold of his son's hand once again and they finally came to where they needed to be the whole time.

Alex slightly scolded himself for running off again, and promised himself he wouldn't do it again. He glanced at his father, who had been so caught up in deciding which food to buy that he didn't notice Alex's absence because he snuck to go see the puppies, who were all in different cages. _He'll never know I'm gone._

"Alright Alex, I- Alex?" he asked. _Someone's gotta get a leash for this kid!_ "Alex!" he looked in every isle, but he couldn't find his son anywhere.

Just as Alex was coming back from petting the puppies, Austin wasn't in the same place he was before. There was an abandon bag of dog food lying on the ground. "Dad?" he asked.

This went on for a while, both trying to find one another. There was a point where Austin was in one isle and Alex right behind him- no longer bothering to look through the isles out of panic- and all he would have had to do was turn around.

Eventually, they found one another, hugged, but that wasn't all. Austin scolded him all the way home. Alex knew that in the end this wasn't going to matter because Austin was going to get a bigger lecture than he could ever give.

And it was no mystery that the lecture was going to be by Ally Moon.

* * *

Austin sighed as he threw a pillow on the couch and moved Prince away. "I hope your happy," he whispered at the dog angrily. "You're the reason I'm here. If you didn't eat like a pig-"

"Don't blame the dog, Austin," he heard Patrick's voice from behind him.

Austin jumped. He had almost forgotten Ally invited her brother to spend the night. It was right after she dragged him outside and gave him a huge lecture about "responsibility". This only made him feel worse about losing Alex at Petsmart.

"Are you here to give me a lecture too?" he asked, rolling his eyes.

"No no. I just wanted to talk." Patrick sat down once Prince moved off the couch and patted for Austin to sit next to him, and he did.

"I'm such an idiot," he started the conversation.

Patrick looked at him. "No you're not."

"Yes I am," he argued.

"Just because you do idiotic things doesn't make you an idiot," he pointed out, making Austin come to the conclusion that Patrick had a point. "And, well, you're a guy. You can't call yourself a man if you don't do crazy, idiotic things," he added, this time less serious and it was more of a joke.

Austin laughed a little, despite the way he was feeling. He grew serious again and prepared himself to ask something that Patrick was probably- even now, as a senior in high school- too young to understand. "You know those moments...that just change everything? Like life-changing, I mean."

Patrick shook his head. "The only thing I can think of is my parents divorcing."

"That is a lot to endure…" Austin thought about it for a moment. "But I was talking about something bigger. Not that the divorce wasn't big, and hard, but-"

"I get what you're trying to say," Patrick said, smiling, then adding two and two together so Austin didn't have to explain any further. "So you're saying when the triplets were born, that was life-changing, right?"

"Yeah. That's what I'm saying," Austin muttered. "Good way to sum it up." It was quiet for a moment. "I just love them so much," he continued. "I wanna give them everything they want in life, but I can't. If I were to I'd be broke. Because man, do they want a lot." He smiled a little.

"One day they're going to look back and realize what they wanted was nothing compared to what you and Ally gave them," Patrick said after a few minutes of silence.

"I'd hope so," Austin sighed. "I just want to be the father and wife the kids and Ally deserve."

"They will. They're really good kids; great kids. And stop worrying about being the 'perfect dad', because you know what? There's not a signal father on this planet that makes mistakes. Same thing with Ally. You can't be a perfect husband. She's absolutely _crazy_ about you. You should've seen how much she lite up when she talked about you when she first met you. There was such a huge change in her, and you did it. You! So be proud of that. Of course there's going to be a lot of fights and visits to the couch after this, but you'll get through all of that. You'll see."

Upon finishing, Patrick stood up and put his hand on his shoulder and smiled. "Hang in there bro."

Austin wanted to thank his brother-in-law for the talk and advice, but he was already gone, disappearing upstairs and into the guest room.

 _It's time for things to change,_ he told himself that night as he lay on the couch. _I'll keep on making mistakes, but I need to punish them more. Oh, but I don't want to be the heavy..._ Turning to his side, he thought more about Patrick's advice, and how he could use it.

* * *

 **Yay! I'm so proud of myself! Yet disappointed, I still feel really bad for getting lazy with this story. Well, it wasn't really that. Writers block, as usual -_-**

 **Anyways, I hoped you liked it because I fairly enjoyed writing it.**

 **I really hope you do, which is most important to me that you like it...**

 **Okay it's getting awkward now.**

 **Oh shut up it's almost midnight here I'm tired XD**


	11. BIG NEWS PLEASE READ

**I know, I know, another authors note. Sorry :(. But I have some things to say. I was going to mention this in the last chapter but I forgot to put it in there because I was really tired (I don't know why I always update when I'm tired, but of course when I always get the best ideas when I'm sleepy, don't ask).**

 **Anywho, so a few days ago I got this review that really got me thinking. It was from someone named XxCityLightsxX** **who really got me thinking about how stretched out Things Change was. Like seriously, can we talk about this for a minute? That is a freaking long story with drama that. Never. ENDS! I mean seriously I don't know why I felt the need to add SO MUCH drama, like it wasn't even FUNNY! So much death and pain and suffering. And compared to the first one, I don't understand how it can go from something like that to just...I don't know. I mean there wasn't a lot of drama in Promises, but in Things Change, damn!**

 **Now that I got THAT out of the way, here's my point: I wanna fix that. I used to think "wow, this is one of my favorite stories of mine".**

 **NO!**

 **It's not even...I mean it's good sometimes if I don't say so myself but back to the point.**

 **I want to change the way that these two stories are. I'm sure there's going to be people out there who don't really care about what I'm going to say so just click out now and if you read any of my others stories I'll see you later my friend.**

 **ANYWAYS, what I'm trying to say is that I wanna rewrite both stories. I won't change the characters, really. It'd just be a little different, and maybe shorter. I'll still make Gavin the bully and Dallas the cheater and Piper Austin's sister and unfortunately he'll his parents still will die :(. There's going to be less conflict in Things Change.**

 **So here's my list of pros and cons about BOTH Promises and Things Change (I don't really care if you read this or not, just a little thing I put together):**

 **Pros- Auslly (duh), a little drama but in the end is resolved, it's FLUFFY!, both eventually have happy endings, has touching moments (like the brother/sister moments kind of things, stuff around those lines), they're fun to write, of course, the humor (okay maybe not so much but I'm told I'm funny, there were some funny moments, right?)**

 **Cons- Dragged on FOREVER (*Cough cough Things Change *cough*), had screwed up expectations about high school (like the rumor, mainly), the "Next Time On..." (mainly because sometimes I forgot all about it and didn't even WRITE what I said was coming NEXT), I didn't like the names of the stories (mainly Promises. I just don't like it), killing off Krystal (she didn't deserve to die ㈶6), also killing off Austin's parents.**

 **So there was more pros than cons which is good and if you can think of any pros or cons, just tell me, I won't get offended :)**

 **As for this story? I'm not really sure what I'm going to do with it, I guess this is sort of a goodbye to this story and I might rewrite it I may not. Please don't get mad if I don't :) I'm actually really sad this story didn't turn out as great as I hoped, and it's caused me a lot of writers block but in the end I'm sad to let it go :(**

 **PLEASE tell me your opinions on this crazy idea of starting this series all over. Feel free to PM me! I don't really have a lif and I'm on FanFiction all the time so if you're not a reviewer kind of person just send me a private message and I'll message you back because I always respond pretty quickly unless I'm actually busy.**

 **I'm gonna go now because this is getting really long**

 **Byeee ㈇5**


	12. The Busy Patrick Dawson

**Hey guys (yes, I'm back :)). So I've been think about it and, with your support, I think I'm going to rewrite the stories! But just to let you know, it won't be any time soon so don't expect it. Well, maybe it won't be that long because Bus Boy isn't gonna be very long and I'm working on Time Heals but I'm having writers block on it right now :( So I'm thinking after I finish Bus Boy I can start it, or I was thinking I should do it on paper and have it drafted out but I don't know yet.**

 **On a similar note there seemed to be a lot of confusion about deleting the series. To answer your question, no, I'm not going to delete the other two books. I think I'll need to keep them so when I say it's a rewrite people that hadn't read the first one can look back and read it if they want to.**

 **BUT I may delete this one in the future, although I'm not completely sure because if I don't say so myself this is like the cutest little story I've written ^.^**

 **The reason I'd delete it is because when I rewrite the other two I may change some things and those changed details may not make sense, only if you read the originals so I may just rewrite THIS story too XD It's all so much.**

 **Anywho, I decided I'm gonna finish this story! It won't be that long; I'm probably going to finish it in a few chapters here.**

 **Enjoy :)**

* * *

Austin woke up to the smell of bacon and eggs coming from the kitchen, but he didn't bother to get up. He was exhausted from being up all night, just thinking about how to be a better father and husband. He knew he could do better, but he could never be perfect, as Patrick told him.

Just to show Ally how sorry he was for losing their son for a few minutes at Petsmart, he took a late night trip to the store, got rose petals, and placed them on the bed so they spelt "I love you". As a bonus, he got one of those _I'm sorry for your loss_ cards and put it next to the rose petals (after crossing out the "your loss" part of course and replaced it with "Ally" so it spelt _I'm sorry Ally."_ )

He heard voices of Patrick and the triplets but not Ally. Part of him was impatient that his wife wasn't awake yet so she could tell him she forgave him and maybe even give him a kiss if he got lucky; and if he was being honest with himself all he really wanted to know was that she forgave him.

"Uncle Patrick," he heard Andrew's little voice. "Do you mind telling me were babies come from?"

 _Oh, here we go again,_ Austin thought, rolling his eyes in amusement, finally sitting up and getting on his feet to head to the kitchen where he leaned against the door, unseen. He couldn't help himself. He already saw how his sister had responded to the question now it was time to see his brother's.

"Yeah!" Ariel chimed in with much excitement. "We tried asking Aunt Piper, but she didn't tell us. Is it because she's having a baby soon? Does she not like talking about how it happens?"

Austin snickered. He didn't remember being so curious about babies as these kids were.

Patrick smiled, looking up from the grill. "No, sweetie."

"That couldn't be," Alex said. "She said it was fun."

"And Mommy got mad when I asked her, too," added Andrew. "But if it's fun, why would it make her angry?" he wondered aloud.

"Maybe sometimes it's fun?" Ariel suggested, tilting her head.

Patrick looked so close to exploding with laughter that Austin thought he would, but he swallowed hard and spoke. "Well you see kids." He brought them closely together. "When a man loves a woman, sometimes-"

With wide eyes, Austin entered the kitchen as if he hadn't heard anything. "Good morninggg," he said loudly, optimistically faking it.

"Good morning," Patrick said, quickly going back to the grill as the triplets got their breakfast and sat down on the table.

"What were you thinking?!" Austin scolded lowly, shoving Patrick's shoulder gently. "Why would you-"

"Calm down," Patrick said calmly, turning back to him. "I wasn't actually gonna tell them," he laughed.

Austin narrowed his eyes, then sighed, realizing he could trust Patrick. "I know you wouldn't do that," he admit, half to himself. He then smirked at his brother-in-law. "Say, have you ever...you know?"

"What?! No! I mean, er-"

Austin raised his eyebrows, smiling lightly. "Does it happen to be with a certain girl that you've been in love with since second grade?"

"Hazel? No! That's stupid, I…" His voice died. "Okay, we didn't do anything, we haven't done anything. And we're just friends," he said, trying his hardest to keep the disappointed out of his voice but he was failing miserably.

"Are you sure, Patrick?" Austin asked seriously, and when he didn't respond he continued. "You guys have been friends forever. I always thought you'd admit your feelings eventually."

"It's not that easy," Patrick murmered, turning off the grill and turning to face Austin correctly.

"I get it. It's hard saying how you feel sometimes."

Patrick opened his mouth to say something but they were interrupted when Ariel came in the middle of them, wrapping her arms around her Daddy's leg. "What are you talking about?" she giggled. She had seemed to forget about the whole baby question...for now. But Austin was thankful either way.

"Grown up stuff honey," Austin answered gently.

"What kind of grown up stuff?" she asked curiously, swinging from his legs and humming.

Patrick bent down to her level. "Love, actually. Your favorite subject." He smiled, but Austin saw sadness in his eyes when he mentioned love.

"Oh!" the little girl brightened. "I'm an expert on love! Hard to believe, I know. But I know all there is to know about love. Look at Mommy and Daddy? I learned from them, and Jase and me are very much in love."

Austin laughed. "It's different when you're older, Ariel."

"What do you mean?"

"It becomes more complicated," Patrick explained. "You'll understand where you're older."

Ariel frowned. "But I want-"

"Listen to your Uncle Patrick, now," Austin advised. "He's very smart."

Her smile came back and she nodded, trotting back to the table and Patrick smiled. "So little," he sighed in content. "You did a great job, buddy."

"I'd hope so," Austin said, smiling at his family as he watched them eat their breakfast. Alex was eating quickly. "Slow down!" he snapped out of tough love, not wanting him to get sick.

"Sorry Dad!" Alex called back, eating slower.

He turned back to Patrick. "I love those kids. I can't wait to have a family."

"Soon enough, it'll happen before you know it," he assured him. "But get an education first. Education first, family later."

Patrick nodded. "Of course, Austin."

"You know it feels like yesterday you were seven. You and I were really close back then."

"Now not so much," he said quietly. "I don't barely have time for anything anymore." He ran his hands through his brown hair. "I'm holding down two jobs...and school and studying and basketball...it takes a lot out of me. I'm sorry I can't spend a lot of time with you and Ally anymore. It seemed like I when I went to bed as a seven year old and woke up as a seventeen year old."

Austin looked at him, unsure of how to respond. He never realized how exhausting Patrick's life was now. He was really committed to school and everything he was doing.

Finally, he found the right words. "Pat, I'm so proud of everything you're doing. And it's okay if you're busy, but, if you need any help, Ally and I are aways here for you."

"Thanks, Austin." He gave him a hug. Austin remembered when Patrick couldn't even reach his stomach; the highest he was was to his thighs, then it was to his stomach, and now, it was to his shoulder. "Sometimes I feel like I'm too busy for a girlfriend. That's one of the big reasons I haven't asked Hazel out yet."

"I understand," he sighed, wishing Patrick would have asked Hazel out sooner, before he got so busy. But- now that Austin put himself in someone else's shoes- would it really make a difference?

Ally finally entered the kitchen, and Austin perked up, expecting to be showered in hugs in kisses any moment, and he was.

"Love you," she said, hugging him tightly. "Maybe I overreacted a little. But what you did was really sweet, and I missed my hubby."

He laughed a little knowing he was forgiven, and rested his cheek on her head and kissed it.

* * *

 **Patrick how I missed you! ㈺4I feel bad not having him in it because he's like my favorite OC not gonna lie I just love him so much and he grew up so fast ㈶7**

 **I'm so obsessed with these emojies right now...I'm so tired ㈸4**

 **Goodnight I really need to sleep please tell me what you think!**


	13. Brave New Soldier

Winter break was ending and a new semester was approaching. Ariel and Andrew were excited; Alex, on the other hand, wasn't too keen about going back to school other than getting to see his friends again. Jase was happy, too. Although he did not have many friends but be had Ariel and Alex and Andrew to get him through the day.

And he was even more happy to hear that on Friday the whole kindergarten and first grade was going to bring in something special to them. One could say it was almost the same thing as show and tell, but if you were to tell that to Jason he'd be incredulous, rambling on about how it was so much more than a simple show-and-tell.

The point of the project was to bring in something that is important in your life. It could be something the child wanted to be when they grew up, or something their parents did or even something from their ancestry. Piper thought it was a little advanced for him, but he was in honors. "School these days," she had sighed.

But Jason had it all figured out. "Don't worry, I know exactly what I'm going to do," he said proudly.

"Is that so?" Piper smiled.

Jase nodded. "Yep. I'm gonna be just like Papa."

Just like that, Jason showed up to school on Friday morning wearing a soldier's uniform with a helmet that was slightly too big on him.

"What are you wearing?" asked Ariel.

"I'm a soldier," explained Jason excitedly.

"Really? Is that for your project?" Andrew said curiously.

"I wanna play!" Alex said eagerly, taking off Jason's helmet and putting it on his head. "It's a little big…"

"It's Papa's," Jason said proudly. "He gave it to me before he left."

"But what about him?" Andrew asked in concern.

"He has another one. He said he wanted me to keep it. He said I was the man of the house until he got back to take care of Mommy for him," he explained, bringing himself back to the memory of when his father left to fight for the country.

"Wow," Ariel said slowly with wide eyes full of wonder.

Jason took back the helmet and put it back on his head. "Alright men, single file! No slouching! Heads up!"

Ariel, Andrew, and Alex did as ordered, standing next to one another in a single file as Jason paced back in forth, examining them. "Very good," he smiled in a approval that his "army" did as told. "Charge!" he roared, and they played in the field for a while.

In the middle of playing, Jason suddenly felt his head go cold. He raised his eyebrow, trying to make since of it, but then he realized a shadow casted over him. He looked up and saw it was a boy.

A much older boy.

"Can...Can I have my helmet back, p-please?" he stammered, forcing himself not to shake. The boy was bigger than him; stronger than him.

"You'll have to jump for it," the boy smirked, holding it higher.

"Hey!" Ariel shouted, rushing over to the bully. "That's his!"

"Yeah!" Alex said. "His father gave it to him!"

Andrew ran to his brother's side, unsure of what to do.

"If he wants it he'll have to jump for it!"

Jason tried jumping for it even though he knew it was useless. "I'm going to be a soldier, I need that!" He jumped once more.

The bully bent down to his level but the helmet stayed where it was. "You will _never_ be a soldier," he spat, and Jason's eyes grew wide.

"Leave him alone!" Ariel hurled herself onto the boy but before she could reach him she was knocked down by the boy. She let out a whimper of surprise as she landed face down on the grass.

Jason's eyes got even bigger than they were before. He clenched his fist, trying his best to control his anger. But, he couldn't. Before he knew it he threw himself on top of the bully, causing the helmet to fall on the grass, but he didn't care at the moment and the only thing that mattered to him was showing the bully what he had. He punched the boy numerous times; he tried to punch back, but Jason had a good grip, throwing punches until his nose bleed.

Andrew and Alex helped Ariel up, then raced to Jason, who was crying but at the same time punching the bully senseless. "Jase, stop!" Andrew cried, trying to pull him off.

"Go get someone!" Alex shooed Andrew away.

"Who should I get?"

"HIS MOTHER! SHE WORKS HERE! GO!" Ariel screamed, pushing him away.

"Right! Yes!" Andrew stammered, dashing out of the field, not sure where he was going but he knew he needed to find Aunt Piper so she could talk some sense into Jason. "Aunt Piper!" he called, and he eventually found her on the playground, pushing some little girl on the swing set. He ran toward her. "Piper! I need you!" he panted. "Jase and Ariel and Alex I were playing and-"

"Andrew, slow down," Piper said, bending down to his level and rubbing his back, trying to calm the shaken up boy.

He took a breath, closing his eyes, then opened his mouth to speak. "It's Jason."

Piper's eyes got big as saucers. She than shook herself.

"Come _on_ ," Andrew said, growing desperate, taking her hand and leading her back to the field. In the field there was a crowd of people all muffled together. _Must've drawn attention_ , thought Andrew, biting his lip on nervousness as they made their way through the kids.

What Andrew saw was completely different than what he had seen when he left to get Piper. It was a different story. Jason was laying on the floor, just crying and holding on to the helmet and he was muttering words that no one could understand. As for the bully, he was gone and the only people that were there were Jason, Ariel and Alex, who stood there in horror.

The bell rang a few seconds later, but the kids continued to stare at the boy, not sure what was wrong. "That's it!" Piper snapped, pushing her way through the children to reach her son. "Everyone go to class, _now_!"

The children did as ordered, hurrying to their class, including Ariel and Alex and Andrew, who knew Jason needed space. Ariel kept looking back, feeling a tug on her heart and it had that sinking feeling that made her feel so small.

"I'm sure glad _I_ don't have Miss. Moon," one girl muttered to her friend.

"Yeah she's been moody lately," the other fourth grader responded. "I can't wait for summer."

This just made Piper go pale and Jason cry even more and he felt a strong disliking for those girls that talked bad about his mommy.

Piper shook herself and approached her son. "It's okay Jase, I'm here." She picked him up and cradled him in her arms like she had done when he was just an infint. "Shhh, it's okay baby."

He didn't stop crying, but he spoke. "I-I'm s-sorry, I-I...He...He-He w-was taunting m-me…" he sobbed.

"Who was taunting you?" she asked, trying not to sound too demanding.

"I-I don't know," he admitted. "B-But he was b-big, and-and scary."

"I...I see, what did he say?"

"First, he...he took my h-helmet off and m-made me jump for it."

"Daddy's helmet? Jase...I told you not to take it to school," she said softly, trying not to freak out but right now all that mattered at the moment was if her son was okay. "It's far too valuable."

"I-I'm sorry," he repeated. "He told me t-that I'd never be a soldier."

" _What?!_ " She scowled.

"And I punched him," he concluded quickly.

Piper sighed. "Jase...you shouldn't…"

"I know. But he hurt Ariel," he protested.

She sighed again, then smiled. "Now that's what I call a true soldier. Always looking out for everyone, especially your girl."

* * *

The next day was brighter. Ally and Piper went to get coffee. "I can't believe Jase had a meltdown," Ally said, "poor thing."

"I know," she sighed. "I'm worried about him. He's been so...I don't know, I can't describe it."

"He misses his dad," Ally stated quietly.

"He's not the only one," Piper sighed again. She had been sighing a lot lately. "I feel like a terrible mother, and teacher. Just to all kids right now. Even the twenty eight I see every day. They don't even like me anymore because apparently I'm _moody_ , and I _eat_ too much and _yell_ too much." She rolled her eyes, biting into her second coffee cake. Once that was finished, she dug into her croissant.

Ally tried not to laugh. "You kinda do eat a lot."

"It's not _my_ fault."

"Yes," Ally sighed. "And who am I to say you eat too much? When I was pregnant with the triplets I ate double as that. Or you could say _triple_!" She slapped her knee, laughing at her own joke.

"Maybe I should just quite my job and work at Starbucks and Elliot and I can elope and you and Austin can adopt Jase and-"

"Oh, now you're talking gibberish!" Ally interrupted her angry ramble. "You don't mean that," she said softly, really hoping her sister-in-law didn't mean anything she was angrily murmuring about.

"No," she looked up, eyes softening, "I don't mean that. Gosh, this baby makes me crazy. But none the less, I love her."

Ally smiled.

"I never actually saw myself having children, you know," she continued. "I couldn't see myself with a family. A boyfriend, but never a family. Then Jase came along. He's not my son but he's still...part of me."

"He's the closest thing you have to Krystal," Ally said.

"And love him with all my heart. I couldn't ask for a better son."

It was quite for a moment until Ally spoke up. "Have you felt any kicks yet?" she asked curiously. This question had been nagging her for a while, but for whatever reason she felt awkward asking it.

"Oh yes," she nodded happily. "The other day, actually. I was right in the middle of a lesson and I felt it. It felt so _weird_. I had to stop for a minute and the kids all looked at me like I had grown a second head. I was freaked out at first because I thought I was actually _having_ the baby."

"It always feels weird at first," Ally remembered, laughing lightly.

"I don't feel like this is real."

"It's real," Ally assured her. "Trust me, it's all real."

* * *

 **Uggghhh I hate this ending. It's just so...I don't know. It doesn't feel like a good way to end the chapter but whatever I'm tired.**


	14. We're Not Broken, Just Bent

"Alright Prince, roll over!"

The dog did nothing.

"Good boy!" Alex cooed, rubbing Prince's head and giving him a treat. "Here's your treat!" The dog ate in delight although he had done nothing to deserve the treat.

"Shake Prince, shake!"

Prince just sat there.

"Good doggie!" He gave him another treat.

Ally made her way into the kitchen. "Hey kiddo, what are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm training Prince!" he told her proudly.

"Ah," Ally smiled, going for the food. "Now tell me, what have you taught him?" She pulled pulled out the milk and poured it in her cereal.

"I'll show you," he said, about to show his mother everything he "accomplished".

Before he could even move he realized the home phone was ringing. "I'll get-"

Ally already beat him, sticking her tongue out and answering. Alex scowled, folding his arms crossly."Moon residence Ally speaking, who's this?"

"Hey, Ally, I need your help," Patrick's voice said anxiously through the phone.

"What is it?"

"Dad is driving me _crazy_!"

"What did you do?" Ally asked slyly.

"I didn't _do_ anything. I just forgot to clean _one_ stupid plate and he freaked out!"

"That's Dad for you," she laughed.

"I don't think I can take this any longer," he murmured.

"You could always move out," Ally suggested.

"I don't have money."

"Then we're back to the plate."

"Listen, do you think I could stay at your place for a few nights? It's a three day weekend and I _need to get away from him_ ," his voice grew desperate.

Ally sighed. "Okay, I'll talk to Austin and the kids about it. I'll text you."

"Thanks, Ally."

She hung up the phone, sliding through the kitchen and onto the table.

"What did Patrick want?" asked Alex as he played with Prince on the floor.

"He wanted to come over this weekend," she told him.

Alex shot immediately, excitement filling his eyes. "Is he coming now? Oh! I can show him-"

"I told him I'd talk to you and your brother and sister's and Daddy about it."

"I'm sure they won't care," Alex insisted. "We don't barely see him anymore," he whined, sitting next to his mother and putting his hands on his cheeks and elbows on the table.

"He's very busy sweetheart," explained Ally gently.

Alex sighed. "How long are they going to sleep? It's almost noon and I've been up since 6 o'clock!"

Ally shook her head, eyebrows furrowing. "Patience, Alex, for the hundredth times."

"Sorry Mommy," he mumbled sheepishly.

After Ally finished her cereal She got up on her feet. "Why don't you go wake your siblings up? I'll wake up your father."

"Finally!" He dashed up stairs. Ally was about to tell him to walk but she let it go and make her way upstairs and into their room where Austin lay on his belly, the comforter kicked off and he was hugging a pillow.

Ally couldn't help but smile. But her face dropped when she saw his eyes were shut tightly and he was squirming.

"Don't cry Ally," he said in his sleep. "It's okay Andrew Daddy's here…" he rolled over to his side; his breathing increased as his body rose and fell.

Frantically, Ally raced to the bed and looked at him. He now had his teeth clenched together. "Austin," Ally said quickly, shaking him. "Austin!" she repeated anxiously, and his eyes flew open.

His pupils grew wide. "It was a dream…." he whispered as she touched his face. He took ahold of her arm and rubbed up and down.

"A-Are you o-okay?" she stammered.

"I'm fine. It was just a nightmare," he said briskly.

"You've been having a lot of nightmares Aus," she whispered.

"Hey…" he smiled, hugging her. "I'm alright. I always open my eyes afterwards."

"I know you took it," a voice said, causing them to pull away from their embrace.

"I did not!"

"Did to!"

"I don't have it!"

"Yes you to! You always take things. From both me and Alex!"

"Well I didn't take it this time! You misplaced it. Boys never take any responsibility."

Ally groaned. "There's always on each others throats."

"I'll patch up the argument," Austin said, kissing her head and getting up of bed, slipping on a shirt and shorts and sliding out of the room and going into the hallway to see Andrew and Ariel bickering.

"What's the problem, guys?" he asked, rubbing his temples. At the same time he was happy to see them after his nightmare…

"Ariel took my songbook!" Andrew yowled, pointing to his sister accusingly.

"I. Did. Not!" she spit out every word, her face red with anger.

"Did to!"

"Yeah, that proves your case very well." The little boy stuck his tongue out.

Austin sighed, then bent down to their levels and smiled despite the way he was feeling. "Did you _see_ Ariel take it, Drew?"

"Well, I mean...not exactly," he said, putting his hands behind his neck. "But she always takes my things!" he added more confidently.

"I didn't take it this time!" she shouted.

"Please don't yell honey. Now Andrew, where was the last place you saw it?"

"It was in my book case...like it always is," he said. "And when I woke up it was gone."

"We'll go look then." Austin made his way to his room. Andrew looked surprised as he followed behind his father, Ariel hot on his heels.

"Stop breathing on my neck!" he snapped. "Bleh!"

"I'm not! I always get blamed for everything!"

Ally didn't know how long she was sitting there, thinking about the past month. She was worried for Austin. He had been having a lot of nightmares lately that he wouldn't tell her about, and that scared her. What if there was nothing she could do? Some days it felt like they were drifting away...

"Mommy," Alex said softly, knocking on the door, interrupting her thoughts. "Ariel and Andrew are fighting again."

"I know sweetie," she sighed.

Alex crawled into the big bed and sat on Ally's lap and laid his cheek her her thigh. "Why is Daddy acting strange?" he asked suddenly.

Surprised, Ally stared down at her son that was looking at her with those brown eyes. She had no idea how to answer that. "He's just...he's…" she trailed off, feeling as if she told him about Austin's nightmares he'd worry too.

Austin came back in with Andrew and Ariel following. "I told you I didnt take it. You misplaced it."

"I'm sorry Ariel," Andrew apologized, sounding a bit crestfallen.

"That's alright." She smiled, hugging him.

"Now that's what I like to see," Ally smiled. Alex jumped off of the bed, scrambling out of the room with his siblings.

"Hey guys! Let's play house! I'll be the Daddy and Ariel will be the Mommy and Drew has to do what we say!"

"Why can't _I_ be the Daddy? You always do!" Andrew whined as the door shut, leaving them to figure it out themselves.

Austin smiled, then looked to see that Ally was frowning. "Are you okay Alls?" he asked, pulling her closer and she leaned on his shoulder.

"I was just thinking…"

"Bout what?"

"You," she answered without hesitation. "Me," she added, then paused. "Us."

"What about us?"

Ally sighed. "Are we broken Austin?" she asked weakly, but seriously, not meeting his gaze.

"Hey, look at me." He gently grabbed her chin with her finger and eventually got her eyes to meet his.

She sniffed.

"Why on earth would you think that?" he asked, trying not to sound too demanding.

"Sometimes I feel like we're drifting apart." She let out a few whimpers. "Are we? Are we still as in love as we were in high school? A few years ago, even?" She went back to her original question. "Are...Are we broken?" she repeated.

Austin couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Where is this coming from? I don't share my nightmares with you because I don't want to worry you or the kids," he explained desperately wanting to make her understand. "We're not broken sweetheart. We're just bent."

"I-I-"

"And to prove it to you I'm asking you out on a date to the movies and the park."

Ally couldn't help but smile. "I accept."

* * *

 **We're not broken just bent and we can learn to love again ?**

 **I forgot how much I loved that song! I was thinking of it when I wrote this. I have to say this chapter isn't horrible. It has cute Ally/Alex moments and good Auslly moments of I don't say so myself :)**

 **Hope you're still reading please review!**


	15. Uncle Danny

Everything was quiet as Austin and Ally walked down the beach, hand and hand. went to dinner and the park, where they talked things out, telling one another what was going on and it really helped. Ally realized they weren't broken, and they were still as in love as they had ever been. Nothing would change that, and she understood that now.

But there was still something they were avoiding: his nightmares. They would have to talk about it eventually.

Every time one of them tried to say something they'd close their mouth, assuming what they wanted to say was dumb, and irrelevant.

Ally wanted to ask her husband about his nightmares but she just didn't have the words; she worried she'd sound rude and demanding out of her own worry. _Maybe,_ she thought, _it would be best if I didn't ask anymore. Maybe they're personal._

Austin wanted to tell Ally what was on his mind, and what his nightmares were but he was still trying to figure that out himself. When he dreamed he usually dreamed about if everything he had and accomplished in his life was just _gone_. And it scared him more than he could ever admit, even to himself. He didn't know why he had these nightmares when he knew that Ally was never going to leave him. _But does she know that_? he thought as he glanced at her.

Her eyes were fixed on the ocean. "Beautiful, isn't it Alls?" he finally said, making her jump.

She looked at him but there was no reply.

Austin sighed, putting his hands behind his back and they continued walking. The atmosphere around them started them feel thick with unsaid feelings; even though it happened on more than one occasion it didn't make them feel less awkward. He wanted her to talk to him.

 _Look at me_ , he thought desperately. _Do something to assure me you're okay._

 _Kiss me,_ Ally thought. _Tell me everything is going to be okay. Tell me why…_ she swallowed, _why you hate yourself._

"You hate yourself," she whispered. This time Austin was the one not to reply. All he did was stop and look at her.

"No I don't." _Liar. You lie to everyone, including her and you know it._

"You hate yourself," she repeated rather loudly, making him wince. "You always have, and don't tell me you don't. You...you're too proud," she said shakily. "You're too proud."

Austin still didn't say anything. He simply cuffed her cheek, wanting to just cry but he stood his ground.

"Why do you hate yourself? It _kills_ me to know that...that when you open your eyes you don't want to leave them open. You want to give up."

"That's not true," he whispered.

"Why do you wear a mask everyday? Why do you just pre-pretend everything is fine? Why don't you tell me about your nightmares?" She paused, taking a breath, beginning to feel desperate now. "The least you could do is...is tell me why."

Austin still didn't answer. He didn't know what to say. Was this how Ally truly thought? If so, how long had she thought this? Was he lying to her when he said it wasn't true that he never wanted to open his eyes he didn't want to leave them open, and just give up on everything? Was he...lying to himself?

"Austin, you have to say something," she urged. "Remember when you got in that car accident? I thought...I thought you were going to die. Everyone knew I was drinking my pain away because I just I...I love so much...and...and I-I feel like I love you more than you love me…" she trailed off, letting more tears fall as Austin still didn't answer but he rubbed imaginary circles on her cheeks.

Resting his forehead on hers, he remained silent. _If I could just show her how much I love her._ But he couldn't. His mouth felt awfully dry and his mouth refused to open; he felt like he would say the wrong thing and make her even more upset.

His head rested on hers for a long time and in that time Ally was starting to cry less. Austin kissed her tear stained face and kissed her lips. At first she was hesitant but she relaxed and kissed him back. One they pulled away he wrapped her into a hug, clearing his throat and speaking for the first time that felt like hours.

"Ally...I'm so sorry," he whispered.

"For w-what?" she asked, nuzzling into her face into his chest and closing her eyes, no longer feeling upset but more peaceful as she closed her eyes and inhaled his scent.

"For…" he thought for a moment. "For everything."

She looked up at him. "What do you mean?"

"I...I don't know. I just feel like I have to apologize, I'm the reason you're upset."

She shook her head against his shoulder that she was now leaning on, telling him them there was nothing to be sorry about. "No. No no no," she soothed, rubbing his back. "It's stupid, I-" Stopping herself, she let out a sigh as she closed her eyes.

The sun was starting to set and as Ally pulled away from him she sighed and forced a smile. "It's almost night. Let's go home and get the kids to bed."

* * *

"Hey, who's car is that?" Ally asked as they pulled up in the driveway.

"Well we did invited Patrick over to spend the night," Austin reminded her.

"But that's not his car…" Ally told him, looking at the cherry red furrari that was now in next to them.

"Maybe he invited one of his friends over?" suggested Austin.

"Maybe."

"Only one way to find out," Austin said as they piled out of the car and unlocked the door, entering the house to see Hazel, Patrick, and...Danny.

Ally's eyes widened. "Is that…"

"Danny, yes," Austin murmured, holding back a scowl. He hadn't seen Dallas's younger brother in years, not since Patrick was about twelve. It turned out that Danny had been bullying Patrick. _Has he changed?_ Then Austin noticed something else: Danny's arm was draped around Hazel's shoulders.

Before they could do anything, Alex made his way to his parents with Ariel and Andrew following. "How was your date?" Ariel asked excitedly. "I bet it was super romantic!"

"It was," Ally said, not intending on telling them that she cried.

"Mommy! Daddy! You gotta meet Uncle Danny!" Andrew said excitedly.

" _Uncle_ Danny?" asked Patrick, who stood up from the couch where he was uncomfortably sitting next to Hazel and Danny.

"Yeah," Alex nodded, smiling. Patrick frowned, running a hand through his hair and sitting back down.

"We kinda know each other," Ally said.

"No _way_!" Andrew said in awe.

"Yes way," Danny smiled, then looked at Austin and Ally.

Danny had grown up a lot since they last saw him. He was more muscular and his voice was deeper; his black hair fell in his face, almost covering his eyes and sideburns had grown near his jawline. _Could use a haircut_ , Ally thought grimly, not liking the idea of Patrick's bully from middle school being in her home; judging by the way his arm draped around Hazel and the way she was looking at him with admiration Ally put two and two together.

"Hello, Danny," Austin said.

Danny smiled. "Hi Austin."

"How's your brother?" he asked. He couldn't help but be curious about how Dallas was doing. Even if he had cheated on Ally during high school he apologized. He hadn't seen him in forever. Maybe it was for the best, he thought.

"Oh he's okay. Been living in his own apartment. Working at Lincoln Elementary."

"Hey, that's where we go!" Alex piped in. "Is he a teacher?" he asked, looking up at Danny.

"Not exactly," he shifted. "He's the janitor."

"Ohhh! Janitor Dallas who always gives away free lolypops," Ariel recalled. Andrew and Alex nodded in delight.

"That's him," Danny said, nodding.

"Say, Danny, is that your furrari in the driveway?" Ally asked, still uncomfortable. The triplets had told her about Dallas working at Lincoln but she always assumed it was a different Dallas. _Why didn't Piper tell me? She would know more than anyone!_

"Yep. I bought it myself. I had to save up because it costed a lot of green stuff."

"Green stuff?" Patrick asked, looking unamused and bored. "You mean money?"

"Oh, leave him alone Patrick," Hazel smiled, nudging him and standing up next to Danny. "He can call money whatever he wants."

Patrick rolled his eyes, but said nothing.

"So are you two a thing?" Ally asked and they nodded slowly. She then glanced at Patrick who looked like he just wanted to dig a whole into the soft earth and never return.

* * *

 **That's it. I really wanted to bring back the whole Dallas/Danny situation and I thought this was a good way to do it. Plus a lot of people wanted it so yeah...XD There will definitely be more about this situation in the next chapter so let me know if you liked the way it turned out!**


	16. Troublemakers

A month had gone by since Hazel and Danny had been dating and every time Austin or Ally got a text or call from Patrick all he would talk about was their relationship, pointing out every little flaw Danny had.

"He doesn't even go to the same school and he _still_ visits her _everyday_ at lunch. And she's always laughing at his unfunny jokes and ignores my brilliantly thought ones," Patrick's voice ranted from the phone as Ally chopped up potatoes and put them in the stew she was making for dinner.

"I don't know what to tell you Pat," she sighed, half wishing he would hang up already because he had been ranting for over thirty minutes.

"No one does," he grumbled. "Well I have to go to class. Bye."

Before Ally could say bye he hung up. Frowning, she set down the home phone, put the stew in the crock pot, and entering the living room, plopping down on the couch. The stew would take quite awhile to cook and it was almost noon. _What now?_

She thought for a moment, then concluded her thoughts that she didn't want to sit around doing nothing so she glided out of the house and slipped into her car, not sure what to do.

She stared at her wedding ring and ran her finger through it, heaving a sigh. It felt like so long ago when they got married. It had just been six years in September. It wasn't anything big, really. They stayed home and watched movies with the triplets snuggling with them. Ally remembered falling asleep that night on Austin's shoulders and Andrew on her lap. She felt such content at that time. Granted she woke up with a crock in her neck but she couldn't think of a time when she felt more peaceful.

It felt so different now.

 _What happened to us?_ she thought. Something just seem to shift since his nightmares started.

Ally thought back to the simple times in high school. She almost wished she could turn back time when she didn't have so much concerns for everyone. _Change doesn't just come when you want it_ , she finally concluded. _It starts with you._

* * *

Ariel sat below the oak tree at recess, watching her brother and Jason play soldier. Jason was the commando, as always. No one really complained about it either. That's just always what he wanted to be in the game and Andrew and Alex didn't mind.

Ariel told them that she didn't really want to play today, so she sat and watched them. It wasn't as fun, though, watching the game as playing it. At times it was hard for her to pay attention because he mind was focused on a lot of things that she could see that the boys did not. If they did they would have said so, right?

As she watched Jason play with her brothers, she noticed he kept on looking at her and frowning. Other times he made funny faces to make her laugh.

And she did.

She laughed even though she didn't want to.

"I'll be right back," he said, still looking at Ariel. Then he looked back at Andrew and Alex. "Er...Alex, you're in charge," he said, not waiting for a reply but they were unknowingly bickering as he dashed towards Ariel and joined her side. "Hi, there," he smiled.

"Hi," she said. She couldn't help but smile.

"Are you okay?" he asked after a few moments. "You love playing with us." Silence. "Is it your Papa?"

She looked up at him. "How...How did you know?" she wondered out loud. "I didn't even-"

"Am I not your best friend?" he raised his eyebrows and smiled. "Your Pop's always seems like he's somewhere else," he murmured.

"That's just what I was thinking about," she said softly.

"Do you miss your Papa?"

Ariel pursed her lips. "He hasn't gone anywhere."

Jason furrowed his eyebrows. "That's not what I meant and you know it."

"Not like yours," she continued. "He doesn't leave every year and then come back. At least my father has time for me! Not to mention your real father and mother that don't seem to have any time at all!" she snapped.

Jason's eyebrows relaxed but his expression changed. His mouth dropped and he froze, now looking like he was going to cry.

"Oh, no," she immediately said, her voice quiet and she felt so small at the moment. "I'm sorry, I-"

"My mother is _dead_ Ariel!" he snapped. "My mother is dead," he whispered. "And no matter what you or anyone else says Elliot will always be my Papa. And Piper will _always_ be my mother." He walked away, then stopped and looked at her. "Blood doesn't make family, Ariel, love does."

She watched him walk away, pushing past her brothers and once he did they cocked their heads in confusion and approached Ariel. "What did you do to him?" Andrew asked.

"Nothing," she sighed.

"Really? 'Cause it seems like you did. He was pretty upset," Andrew said.

"I didn't!" she yelled.

"Why are you such a jerkface?" Alex asked.

"You're a jerkface stupid!" she screamed and pushed him into a puddle of mud, causing him to get his new clothes.

"Ohhh Ariel, mom's gonna be mad…" Andrew called out from the safety of the dry grass.

"Shut up Andrew!" Ariel screamed again.

"Ariel what are you doing?" They were all jumped up as the sound of the principal's voice rung out across the field.

"Um… Alex just fell in the mud and I was trying to help and the Andrew started being annoying," Ariel lied.

"Well shut up is a bad thing to say," Mrs. Martinez scolded.

"Andrew started it!"

"No I didn't Ariel did!"

"No Andrew did."

"If it wasn't for Jason asking if I was okay-"

"Quit being dumb." Mr. Johns called out from across the field next to Mrs. Martinez.

"David, you are not in this and watch your language."  
"Well you know kids these days, such fast learners." He said sarcastically and walked off. By now all the kids were standing around awkwardly. Mrs. Martinez just smiled and looked to Alex.

"Oh my goodness Alex what happened?"

"Oh my gosh Mrs. Martinez I just told you, do you need to get your ears checked?"

"Alright guys, maybe we need to call your mother."

Ariel's eyes widened. "No! I'll be good!"

"She pushed me!"

"He called me a jerkface, I had a reason," he remarked, sticking her tongue out at Alex.

"Can I say something?" Andrew asked innocently.

"No Andrew shut up! You're so annoying!"

Andrew looked at her, tearing up.

"I didn't do anything Ariel, why are you so mean to me?" he asked as he suddenly burst out crying and ran away and budded his knees under the oak tree, putting his face in his hands. Mrs. Martinez looked over at Ariel who was shaking her head dramatically.

"He. Is. Such. A. Crybaby." Ariel said.

"Well you're the one that's such a jerk to him, he never did anything to you Ariel."

"You're mean to him too, Alex."

"Alright guys, shush." Mrs. Martinez groaned in annoyance. Once they finally shut their traps." She turned around.

"Come one guys it's off to the office to call your mother."

"What about Daddy? He's not very good at being mean like Mommy is..." Alex offered.

"Well I think you guys need to learn yourselves a lesson so I think your mother is needed for this one." Two _very_ audible groans were heard from behind her as she led the little troublemakers to the office after she persuaded Andrew and Jace to come along with them so they could explain their sides of the story to their mothers.

* * *

As the four sat in the office, all glaring at each other. At the moment they all just wanted to go home and not talk to each other for the next year. It was hard, though, because the triplets HAD to see each other everyday and it was hard for Jason not to see them with his mother babysitting them while they worked.

Piper was the first to come in. "What happened?" she asked, rapidly making her way to Jason. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine," he sighed. "I just don't see why I have to be here when I didn't do anything. This is their issue."

"I'm sure they just want your side of the story Jase."

He shrugged his shoulders. "I have no story to tell."

"Then why are you here?" grumbled Ariel.

Piper shot her niece a warning glance and smiled at her son. "Well what happened before you left?"

"I don't want to talk about it, Mom."

"You can tell me Jase."

He shook his head, feeling the tears form. "No."

"With all do respect, Mrs. Martinez, my son has no part in these kiddo's 'drama'. I don't think Jason should be asked anymore questions."

"You only say that because he's your son," Alex murmured.

"No. That is _not_ the reason Alex," she snapped. "Jason shouldn't be dragged into this and neither should Andrew. This is about you and Ariel."

"It was her who pushed me in the mud! Now Mommy is gonna be mad, and it's all your fault!" he wailed, staring at Ariel.

"It's not my fault! Jason shouldn't have asked me anything in the first place. I was fine until he came!"

"No you weren't!" Jason protested. "Even before I talked to you you still looked upset. I just wanted to know if you were okay. I care about you! I feel like you're angry about something but you are taking it out on others. It's okay to be angry, but don't be mean to others about it. Don't mention their dead mothers. Don't mention that their Papa doesn't have time. And don't mention their real father either!" Upon finishing Jason was tearing up. He stood up. "There. I told my story. Can I go now?"

Piper nodded before Mrs. Martinez did. "Go on back to recess, now." She gave him a light push, yet she was void of emotion, as if she didn't know what to say as far as what her son said. But then again, who would? "The bell is about to ring." She stood back up. "If that is all, I have to go. Papers to grade, students to teach." Before she walked out, she eyed Alex and Ariel. "Be good for your mother, please. You are in enough trouble as it seems."

"Yes mam," Alex said.

"Yes Aunt Piper," Ariel said

At that same moment Ally came in, asking the same famous question Piper asked: "Are you hurt?"

Once they said they weren't, Mrs. Martinez explained what had happened. Ally furrowed her eyebrows when she heard the story.

They knew this was just the beginning.

* * *

" _I'm tired of waking up in tears  
'Cause I can't put to bed these phobias and fears  
I'm new to this grief I can't explain  
But I'm no stranger to the heartache and the pain_

The fire I began is burning me alive  
But I know better than to leave and let it die

I'm a silhouette asking every now and then  
"Is it over yet? Will I ever feel again?"  
I'm a silhouette chasing rainbows on my own  
But the more I try to move on, the more I feel alone  
So I watch the summer stars to lead me home…"

Austin took a breath and wrote more lyrics in Ally's songbook. She let him use it often.

"New song?" Ally asked as she entered the guest room where the piano was. It hadn't been used in forever. Well, that's at least how it seemed.

Nodding quietly, Austin closed the book. She sat down next to him, leaning on her shoulder. "I like it," she said. "It's kind of a downer, though."

"I know," he sighed. "It's about...It's about my nightmares."

Ally sat up a little. Was he going to tell her?

"I don't know, Alls. They're...intense. A lot of times I can't identify them. Some of them are about losing you or the triples. And if anything were to happen to you guys...I wouldn't know what to _do_. My life would be _over_."

Ally frowned. "That's never going to happen. We all love you. We're not going to leave you."

"I know you're not. God, you don't know how much I love you, do you?"

"Yes I do."

He shook his head. "Nah."

Ally sighed, deciding to change the subject. "I can't believe the kids. What is going on through their heads? Especially Ariel and Alex. Ariel has never pushed anyone. And that was a brand new shirt."

"Don't worry," he laughed. "It's in the care of OxiClean. Gets the tough stains, out!"

Ally laughed. "That's a terrible impression."

"It made you laugh so it was worth it," he smiled and she blushed.

"We still have to find an appropriate punishment for them you know."

Austin nodded quietly. "Yeah."

She then yawned. "We'll worry about it tomorrow. I'm really tired."

"Me too."

They sluggishly got up from the piano bench and crawled into bed, not bothering to put their pajamas on. "Night Ally," Austin yawned, turning off the light. "I love you."

"I love you too Austin. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," a little voice said.

Austin turned the light on to see Andrew in the middle of them, smiling and cuddling his teddy bear. "Can I please sleep with you guys? Ariel and Alex are still mad at each other. I usually like to sleep with them but now they think I'm a crybaby," he said.

"Okay," Ally sighed, patting a few pillows.

"Alright," Austin agreed, smiling and tucking his son in.

"Mommy? Daddy?" Andrew said in the darkness.

"Yes, sweetie?" Ally asked, half asleep as she snuggled into Austin's back.

"I love you."

"We love you too," Austin smiled a little before drifting into sleep.

Ally pulled him and Andrew closer to him.

She looked up when she saw Alex followed by Ariel. "Can we sleep with you guys, too?" Alex asked sheepishly.

"We promise we'll be good," Ariel added.

Ally nodded. "Of course loves. There's plenty of room." Once settled, she kissed their foreheads. Prince joined them soon after, laying on the foot of her bed. And with that, family drifted off into sleep.

* * *

 **Finally done. I know it's been forever but I'm back! My friend help me write this one so credit to her!**

 **I'll see you later byeee.**


	17. We Are Honey And The Bee

Jason tossed and turned. He couldn't stop thinking about the things that Ariel had said to him earlier today, and how _wrong_ she was. It was hard to say that she was wrong about something, because he assumed she was just right about everything. But you can't be right all the time.

He turned to his side, looking at the time:

 _ **11:30**_

 _ **11:31**_

 _ **11:32**_

As time ticked by Jason found it harder to sleep. He turned onto his back and rubbed his temples. _Just close your eyes...sleep…_

He knew it wasn't going to work. _Count sheep._ Jason tilted his head. He never really understood who counting sheep could make him tired. He tried it many times when he couldn't sleep and it never work.

Sitting up, he saw that his mother's light was still on, illuminating the darkness. He hesitantly crawled out of bed and into Piper's room, where she was sitting at her desk, grading papers. Well, sort of. Her eyelids kept on dropping and at one point her head dropped and she hit her forehead on the desk. "Oww," she groaned, rubbing her head.

Jason tried to hold back a snicker even though he knew it might have been rude to laugh at someone getting hurt. She then laid her forehead on the desk and sighed, closing her eyes. Jason cocked his head wondering if she was already asleep, hesitantly entering the room.

"Mom," he shook her shoulder. "Wake up."

"I would have to be sleeping to do that Jase," she said as her head slowly lifted up.

He ignored her comment. "I can't sleep."

"Funny, I can't seem to stay awake."

"Then why don't you go to bed?"

"Can't. I have twenty-eight papers to grade and twenty-eight more tests to make."

"Oh," he said quietly. "Anything I can do to help?"

She thought for a moment, tapping her red pen. "Ah, I know what you can do for me." She bent down from where she was sitting and got her bag, then pulling out construction paper. "You can organize this construction paper."

Jason's face dropped. "That's it? Why would you need to do that?"

"It's for a project they are going to do," she explained. "It makes it easier for them. They can just simply grab whatever colors they want without a hassle."

"Ah, okay," Jason smiled, feeling a little more happy that he could help his mother's students. He hopped onto the bed with the construction paper firmly grasped in both of his hands. He hurled himself up (the bed for him was like climbing a mountain), setting the paper down and starting to put each color in a neat pile while humming to himself. "This is fun. Is it fun being a teacher Mommy?"

 _Not when you're hormonal and the kids hate you for it. Not when your boss lowers your pay. Most importantly, not when your son gets called into the office for doing absolutely nothing when it was your brothers kids who was causing the trouble._ "Yes," she answered quietly, not looking at him. She didn't want to tell him any of that stuff; she didn't want to bring up Ariel because she knew he wasn't happy with her right now, and neither was she.

"Are you lying?"

 _Crap. He's good._ Just like...Krystal. She always knew when Piper was lying. "Um…"

"You can tell the truth," he said, putting a red paper into the pile of reds.

Piper sighed. "Okay I'll admit, it hasn't been exactly the dream job lately," she said slowly.

"Why is that?" He almost sounded like a therapist. It made her just wanna lay her head down and vent everything that went on in her head.

"When your…" she searched for the right words, "expecting, you tend to get moody."

"So like when Andrew eats the last cookie and Alex is in a bad mood for the rest of the day?"

"Yes! Exactly."

"Well I've seen you like that before."

"I tend to lash out at them just as I do to you sometimes. You know I don't mean it, but they seem to think I do it just to be mean. It's not like I can control it. Like Alex with his cookie." Jason mentally rolled his eyes. "Now let's talk about you," she said calmly. "How was your day?"

"Good."

"Are you lying?" she smirked.

 _Jeez. She's good._ Just like...Ariel. Ariel always knew when he was lying. "Yes," he replied quietly.

"You've had a rough day," she said simply. "You can't let what Ariel said to you bring you down. You know your father cares about you, right?"

He sat up in the bed, feeling more confident as he shook his fist in the air. "Right! And he's coming home in three more months!"

"And four days!" she added, smiling.

"Yeah!"

"Yeah!"

They high fived, both feeling a lot better about themselves and the situations they were in.

Jason went back on the bed, and they both finished everything in about fifteen minutes. "Now what?" Jason asked.

"We sleep." She closed her binder and crawled into bed, then patted for him to lay down, and he did, still unable to fall asleep.

Suddenly he thought of something funny at the worst time, snorting a laugh. "Remember that time when there was a beehive in the front of our house? And when Papa tried to take it down all the bees went after him?" he laughed, and Piper laughed too.

"He's such a dork." She shook her head in amusement. "He was so stubborn about it. I told him to just hire an exterminator but nooo. He was like 'I'll take care of it'. Look where that got him."

Jason laughed, then grow serious and after a moment he murmured, "I miss him."

She pulled him closer. "I miss him too, I hope he's okay. All we can do is pray." _God, why did he have to chose such a dangerous profession?_

"Hey Mommy?" he asked, beginning to feel drowsy.

"Yeah Jase?"

"What are you gonna name the baby?"

"I don't know yet," she sighed, already half asleep.

He yawned. "Can we name her Krystal?"

Piper opened her eyes and looked down at him. She was about to answer, but he was already asleep.

* * *

"Wake up!" Ariel felt someone painfully probe her on the rib. It was Andrew.

"What?" she moaned.

"I've been trying to wake you up for the past five minutes!"

"Good for you," she mumbled, putting the comforter over her head.

"We gotta get ready for the fundraiser today."

"Fundraiser?"

"You didn't forget, did you? We do it every year to help provide money for Lincoln so they can get new stuff. All the teachers come, remember?"

 _Oh man. Teachers. If Aunt Piper's gonna be there Jason is gonna be there._ She didn't want to face him yet after they got into that fight. They hadn't talked for two whole days. "Oh yeah," she murmured, rubbing her eyes. "What are we gonna do this year?"

"Mommy and Daddy are gonna perform a song. They told us a few weeks ago."

She had completely forgotten about that. But whatever her parents were going to do, she knew it was going to be something great.

"Hi everyone," Ally greeted through the microphone. They had rented out a small auditorium in the the mall. It could fit as many people as many people that usually came to these yearly. "Thank you so much for your donations. This is a song my husband Austin and I wrote that expresses true love and…"

Austin wasn't really listening to anything Ally was really saying. All he focused on was the fact of how beautiful she looked and how much he wanted to kiss her; that's exactly what he was going to do by the end of the song. It reminded him of the time when they were still in high school and Ally had a YouTube channel where she shared the sing she wrote to the world. Even after ten years, he still looked at her the same way, and that'd never changed.

He strummed on his guitar, snapping out of his gaze. He caught the eye of Ariel, who was sitting next to Jason, neither one talking to each other, just sitting there with grumpy faces. Austin frowned, knowing that he still had to play even though he didn't like seeing them this way.

 **Austin- Bold**

 _Ally- Italics_

Both- Underlined

 **Don't remind me  
That some days I'm the windshield  
And other days I'm just a lucky bug  
These cold iron rails  
Leave old mossy trails  
Through the countryside  
The crow and the beanfield  
Are my best friends, but boy I need a hug**

 _(Boy I need a hug)_

 **'Cause my heart stops without you  
There's something about you  
That makes me feel alive."**

Jason glanced at Ariel, and when she felt as if she was being watched, he quickly looked away.

" **If the green left the grass on the other side  
** _I would make like a tree and leave_  
 **But if I reached for your hand, would your eyes get wide?**  
 _Who knew the other side could be so green?_

 _Don't remind me  
I'm a chickadee in love with the sky  
But that's clearly not a lot to crow about  
'Cause when the stars silhouette me  
I'm scared they'll forget me and flicker out  
I taste honey but I haven't seen the hive  
Yeah, I didn't look, I didn't even try_

But still my heart stops without you  
'Cause there's something about you  
That makes me feel alive."

Ariel did the same thing and looked at _him_ , then _he_ looked away.

" **If the green left the grass on the other side**  
 _I would make like a tree and leave_  
 **But if I reached for your hand, would your eyes get wide?"**

Jason attempted to take her head but she slapped it away.

" _Who knew the other side could be so green?_

We are honey and the bee

 **Backyard of butterflies surrounded me**  
 _I fell in love with you, like bees to honey_  
 **Let's up and leave the weeping to the willow tree**  
 _And pour our tears in the sea_

 **I swear  
There's a lot of vegetables out there  
That crop up for air  
Yeah, I never thought  
We were two peas in a pod  
To be suddenly bloomed**  
 **And I knew that I'd always love you**

 _Oh, I'll always love you too."_

Ariel smiled a little when she looked at Jason, then scooted a little closer to him.

" **If the green left the grass on the other side**  
 _I would make like a tree and leave_  
 **But if I reached for your hand, would your eyes get wide?**  
 _Who knew the other side could be so green?_

 **If the green left the grass on the other side**  
 _I would make like a tree and leave_  
 **But if I reached for your hand, would your eyes get wide?**  
 _Who knew the other side could be so green?"_

 **If I reached for your hand for the rest of my life**  
Who knew the other side could be so green?"

He took her hand, and for the first time she didn't let it go.

"Is-Is my hand sweaty?" he asked nervously.

Ariel giggled. "Like a fish."

* * *

 **I'm such a terrible person, I haven't updated in over a month ;-; I thought this chapter was cute though.**

 **The song is Honey and the Bee by Owl City as you might of guessed XD I have a sick obsession with them currently.**

 **I can't belive it's been almost a year since I first published Things Change! Omg wow.**


	18. The Aftermath (The Make-Out Session)

Upon finishing the song, Ally smiled at all the people that we clapping. She caught the eye of all of her friends clapping like friends. The only person that didn't look very excited was Patrick, who was sitting next to Hazel and Danny, who were clapping with his arm draped around her.

Ally frowned, but then smiled again because she knew she had to for the audience. "Thanks for much for coming!" As everyone was about to leave, Austin took her mic.

"Hey, everyone, before you leave I just wanted to say that is beautiful woman," he pointed at Ally, "this beautiful woman right here is the love of my life. She's always there. Like in the song we wrote, bees love honey. They also make honey. Ally, you make me. I am only half a heart without you."

Ally's heart melted a little bit more as she turned to look at him but before she could even say anything he kissed her, causing the audience to go "aw". Ally sighed in content and wrapped her arms around his neck and tugged his hair, deepening the kiss. He placed his hand on her waist and she ran her hand down his cheek.

Ariel smiled at her parents while Alex and Andrew gaged and covered each others eyes.

"Whoa," her Aunt Piper murmured, covering Ariel's eyes.

"Hey!" Ariel said, trying to get her hand off her eyes so she could see again but her aunt was persistent. "How come Jase gets to see?"

"He doesn't." She stretched her arm over to cover Jason's eyes so her arm still covered Ariel's eyes.

"Stop! I wanna see!"

Piper was just straight-up ignoring her now. "Ouch. That's gotta hurt her boob…"

"What are they doing?" Ariel tried. "What's happening?"

"Go Ally," she said. "She's gotta teach me some of those skills. So passionate."

"C'mon kids, let's go somewhere more family oriented," she heard a woman say. _Is it really that bad?_

For what felt like forever, Ariel could finally see again. She furrowed her eyebrows and probed Alex and Andrew. "You can look now."

They both took their hands off each others eyes and sighed in relief that their parents were finally done making out. For now.

Austin smiled as he pulled away, placing his forehead on hers. "I love you," he whispered.

Ally blushed and smiled. "I love you too." They made their way off of the stage to greet their friends, both prepared for everyone to make fun of them for making out in front of a bunch of random people.

"Now _that_ was inspiring," Dez said.

Trish nudged him and muttered, "We need to take notes from them. They are good."

Austin laughed. "Shut up."

"They're not wrong," Gavin said.

"That was…" Jeanette searched for the right words.

"Hot," Piper helped her.

"Disgusting," joked Patrick. At least it seemed like it. Part of Ally couldn't help but feel as if he wasn't. Judging by the way Patrick was looking at Hazel and Danny, no, not just them; he looked annoyed with Trish and Dez, Jeanette and Gavin; even Jason and Ariel, he seemed annoyed with everyone. _Does he think he'll never find anyone?_ she wondered.

"Hey, um," she said, no wanting to think about it any longer even though she knew not talking to him about it would solve anything, "wanna get some lunch here or something?"

"I vote Dennys!" Andrew said excitedly.

"Yeah!" Alex and Ariel said at the same time.

"I wouldn't mind Dennys," Hazel said.

"Me neither," Patrick said nervously, "It's the best. Hey, remember when we were in fifth grade we'd always beg my dad for those fancy cups?"

"Oh yeah!" Hazel recalled with much excitement. "He always got us one but we shared two straws and always got chocolate milk."

"Then we'd blow bubbles," Patrick smiled at the memory.

"Those were the days," Hazel sighed.

"I miss those days," Patrick said softly.

Danny went in the middle of them and Patrick frowned. "Dennys it is. It's on me."

"Oh, you don't have to do that Danny," Austin said.

"Please. I insist," Danny smiled.

Patrick went in front of him, looking like he wanted to punch him in the face, but he smiled, trying to keep it together. "I can pay for myself, thank you."

* * *

 **I know it's short but I really wanted to write another chapter. I know the update schedule has been terrible for this story and I hope you haven't forgotten too much about this story and based on the lack of reviews you might have but I'm not giving up on this story. Thanks for a hundred though :). I'm determined to finish it because if I don't I'll feel really bad because I that means the whole entire series would be unfinished.**

 **Another reason I wanted to update was so that you could see the new profile picture for this story. It took forever but I managed to upload it on here. Like, if this story were a movie, these would be the kids that'd be the perfect roles for it. (Jason is top left, Andrew top right, Ariel bottom left, and Alex bottom right.) Cuties ^.^**


	19. Bubbles And Low Blows

"Where's my wallet?" Patrick asked, vigorously looking through his jean pockets. It has to be in there! The last thing he wanted was to look dumb in front of Hazel, and for Danny to secretly think he was an idiot for leaving it at home.

"Are you okay Pat?" Ally asked, letting everyone else go into the restaurant while she stood behind, letting him catch up to her.

"I've been better," he muttered.

"What happened?"

"I think we all know what happened," he said, gesturing his arm to where Hazel and Danny were; he held the chair out for her and once she sat down he sat next to her.

Ally frowned. "Listen," she sat him down on the sidewalk. "You like Hazel, right?"

"I love Hazel," he corrected without thinking. "I-I mean-"

"There's no point in denying it, you've been sighing all day," Ally smiled, nudging him.

"I've been sighing for years. Yes, I'm in love with Hazel. I've been in love with Hazel. Ever since that day in second grade when she walked in the classroom with her flower dress and...and her hair and her smile. Miss. Abby told her she could sit anywhere and, for some reason, she took a seat next to me."

Ally looked at him sympathetically. "Patrick, if you love someone you have to let them go-"

" _Why would I do that?!_ That's the dumbest thing I've ever _heard!_ If you truly love something you shouldn't let it go! You should fight for it! If you let it go it's like you're giving up! I'm not going to give up!" Before Ally got a chance to say anything else Patrick got up off of the sidewalk and stomped back inside.

Sighing, Ally rubbed her temples, trying to clear her mind of everything that was going on. She thought back to the kiss that her and Austin shared. She couldn't help but smile when she thought about it. The mall seemed to disappear, along with her troubles. Everything seemed okay at that moment. She still worried about his nightmares and what she could do to help, if there was anything in that matter. There are always those things you can't help or change. Kind of like Patrick's situation. There was nothing he could do to change the way Hazel and Danny felt about each other.

But why would Hazel want to date someone who she knew bullied Patrick in junior high? Did Danny change? He still sort of made her cringe after what he did to her brother. But he seemed nice enough to make her believe that he changed. Patrick didn't seem to buy it but Austin was starting to. Most of their friends didn't even know about. As far as Ally knew it was only Dez, Gavin, and Elliot.

She remembered that day when her and Austin picked up Patrick from school because he wasn't feeling well. That wasn't the only reason, either. He wanted to get out because of the way Danny was treating him. He was really scared. Scared to even go back there and show his face.

Ally jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned slowly to see Gavin. "Is everything okay?" he asked, looking concerned.

"Everything is peachy," she faked a smile.

Gavin shook his head, looking somewhat amused. "No. That's what you say when something's wrong. Name me one person, _one person_ , that has said 'peachy' when they are actually happy?"

Ally thought about this for a moment, then realized he was right. She couldn't think of _anyone_ that said peachy when they were truly okay. "I can't," she admitted quietly, letting her shoulders drop in defeat.

Gavin put his hand behind his neck. "You...You don't have to tell me, you know," he said. "But if you wanna talk, you know you can talk to me."

See, Gavin was living proof that people could change. It was almost the same thing. Gavin bullied her and high school and now he was a great friend to them. He and his girlfriend Jeanette had been dating for almost five years now, and it would almost be five years that she had been fighting lung cancer.

"Thanks Gavin," Ally smiled. "But I don't want to talk about it right now."

"I respect that. Hey, is Patrick okay? He seems really moody like he's on his man period or something," he mused.

Ally couldn't help but snicker. "No. He's just upset because of Hazel and Danny."

"Why?"

"He really likes her. It's hard seeing someone you like with someone else."

Gavin nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I how that feels."

Ally frowned. "I know you do. But hey, that was the past. Let's focus on what's happening now." She smiled as they went inside.

* * *

"Are you gonna eat that?"

"That's my napkin Pips."

"Yeah, well," Piper said, mouth still full of food, "it has barbecue sauce on it."

Austin eyed his sister carefully, then sighed. She had the weirdest cravings. "Knock yourself out," he said awkwardly.

"Gracias."

Taking one last look at his sister, who was scooping up the barbeque with her butter knife, he shook his head again and turned his attention back to everyone else. "So, how's school Patrick? Anything new?"

Patrick picked at his food. "Nothing to report," he said without looking up.

Hazel frowned at him. "Excuse me, Kenneth"- (Kenneth was their waiter) -"can I get Denny's D-Fusion kids cup for this guy and his brother?" she asked, saving herself the embarrassment and ruffling Andrew and Alex's hair. They tilted their heads in confusion.

"Of course," Kenneth smiled. "What would they like?"

Andrew opened his mouth to answer but Hazel answered for him. "They both want chocolate milk, please."

Patrick's head snapped up at the mention of that.

Kenneth nodded. "Right away mam."

"Why did you do that?" Alex asked. "We already have the kid's cups."

"It's not exactly for you two," Hazel explained gently, smiling at Patrick and he looked away, trying his hardest not to blush. He knew what she was up to.

A moment later the waiter came back with the chocolate milk. Waiting for the waiter to leave, she took the cups, giving one to Patrick and setting the other in front of herself.

"What do you say Pat? For old times sake?" she smiled, biting her lip.

Patrick smiled and nodded. "One…" he started, just as they always did when they were little.

"Two…" Hazel continued.

"Three!" he finished, and they blew on the straws, making the chocolate milk bubbly.

"That's immature," Danny murmured.

Ally narrowed her eyes, then tried to play it off as a smirk when she saw Austin mouth " _don't"._ He didn't want to start anything.

"Hey, Danny," Patrick said through giggles. "It's this new thing called fun. I don't think you've heard of it."

"I'll have to try this fun sometimes," he said, faking a smile.

"Oh yeah?" asked Patrick, pretending to sound interested. He folded his arms. "You really should if you wanna keep a girl like Hazel interested."

It was quiet for a few seconds other than the triplets and Jason trying to hold back their laughter, unaware that this could get bad really quick.

Danny looked offend. He opened his mouth to say something but Dez interrupted him by laughing nervously.

"Heh, how's everyone's food?" he asked awkwardly.

"Great!" Jason said, still completely oblivious.

Patrick smiled lightly at him while Hazel shifted. "Excuse me. I...I'm gonna get some air," she said, standing up.

Patrick frowned, now started to feel a little bad. He had to be careful what he said. Danny _was_ her boyfriend. "I'll go with-" he started, standing up, but she cut him off.

"Don't follow me," she snapped. He watched her walk away.

"Yeah nice going man," Danny said, getting up and going after her.

Patrick sighed, putting his face in his hands.

Dez still tried, snapping his fingers. "Check please!"


	20. Time Is Change

It wasn't long until the group exited the restaurant. Everyone was still kind of awkward about what had just happened inside. Ally tried not to think of it, but when she saw Patrick walking, head down, her heart clenched.

"Hey, Patrick," Ally said, catching up with him, putting her hand on his shoulder. Her looked up at her slowly, looking like he was going to cry. "I...I just wanted to ask if you wanted to come over tonight?"

Patrick shook his head. "No. I have to work. And I need to take care of Dad. He's sick." He leaned his head down so he was closer to her, obviously not wanting anyone else to hear. "I don't think he's gonna be with us much longer."

Ally froze. "Why...Why do you think that?"

"Dunno, I just have a bad feeling about it." He ran a hand through his hair. "I didn't want to tell you but I thought it was a good time as any. I mean, what else could go wrong?" Not waiting for Ally to respond, he walked off to his car and drove away, leaving Ally confused and unhappy.

She felt dread pulse through her when she thought about her father dying. Maybe Patrick was just overreacting. _No_ , she thought. Patrick wasn't one to overreact. He was usually calm and collective. Shaking her head, she waved goodbye to her friends and lead her family into the car and sat in the driver's seat, still in thought.

"Want me to drive?" Austin asked quietly, putting his hand on her knee and looking at her with concern. His hazel gaze burned into her

Ally shook herself and attempted to smile. "N-No. You drove here, it's only fair that I drove back." She put her seat belt on, ignoring the way he was staring at her. She backed out of the driveway and drove home. Looking through the rear view mirror she saw the triplets chatting up a storm about how they could get Patrick and Hazel together.

"Don't get too excited guys," Austin said gently, smiling slightly.

"We just want Uncle Patrick to be happy," Andrew explained, frowning.

"Yeah," Ariel added. "We don't want him being sad. It makes us sad."

Austin remained patient, looking back at them calmly and sympathetically. "Guys, there are some things in this world that you can't change." If he could, Austin would change a lot of things. Of course there was a lot of things he didn't ever want to change either.

"But things do change," Ally murmured, not taking her eyes off the road.

Most things that changed no one had control over. Sometimes it took time. And time had its own way of changing things.

But you already know that story.

* * *

"You've been really quiet," Austin said softly, putting his phone down and looked at his wife, who was reading, not taking her eyes off of her book. "Is everything okay? Did...Did I do something?" He tried it think of where he went wrong but he couldn't think if anything. Everything seemed fine at the fundraiser.

She shook her head.

He was relieved that it wasn't him, but she still wasn't telling him what was bothering her. He pursed his lips, trying to make conversation. "You know, that kiss was pretty sexy," he smirked.

She glanced at him quietly, looking like she was going to smile but she went back to her book.

Austin frowned. "I'll just...I'm gonna check on the triplets." He pushed the comforter off his body and walked out of the room, still wondering if he did anything wrong that she just wasn't telling him. He entered Alex's room, where he was dead asleep. Then Ariel's, she was asleep, too. But when he got to Andrew's, he was wide awake, writing in his book.

"Hey Drew," Austin said, leaning on the doorframe.

He looked up for a moment, said hi, and put his head back down, looking like he didn't really want to talk. Austin frowned, about make his way out of the room but Andrew got out of bed quickly and took pulled on his father's sleeve. "You can stay Dad. If you wanna," he said quietly.

Nodding, Austin went to join his son on the bed. "What were you writing?"

"N-Nothing."

"C'mon, you can tell me," Austin smiled, nudging him.

"Fine," he sighed. "I told Alex and Ariel that I'd write down some ideas of how to get Patrick and Hazel together. I know you told us that some things can't change, but we have a lot of ideas! I...I think there's a possibility-"

"Andrew, you can't force someone to love someone else. Hazel seems happy with Danny. Do you really want to split them up just to make Patrick happy?" he asked gently. Part of him doubted his own words. What if Hazel did like Patrick? And the only reason she was with Danny was because she didn't want to ruin their friendship since second grade?

Andrew opened his mouth to answer but nothing came out, so Austin continued. "I know it's hard for you to understand, but you will. And I know how hard it is to love someone that's with someone else."

Andrew's eyes widened in astonishment. "How do _you_ know?"

"Well, this one time in high school I met this girl. I liked her, a lot. She had something that no one but me could see. So, I got to know her. One time she went out with this guy, which I hoped would just blow over. But it didn't. I was miserable."

Andrew tilted his head, doubting this story had a happy ending. "And then what happened?"

Austin smiled. "That's the good part, I guess. I found out the guys true colors, told her, and she dumped him." He paused, looking down at Andrew. "You wanna know what I did next?"

He nodded.

"I married her."

Andrew smiled.

"See, what I'm trying to tell you Drew is that you never know what could happen in the future. Some things work out, others don't. You don't force life to happen. Time is change. As your mother said earlier."

A comfortable silence sustained them for a few moments. Austin laid his head down on Andrew's bed frame and closed his eyes. "Sleepy?" Andrew guessed.

"Yeah, little bit," Austin nodded, forcing his eyes to flutter back open and give him a small smile.

"Well _I'm_ not," said Andrew nonchalantly.

Austin cocked his head up, amused. The boy looked like he couldn't even keep his eyes opened. "Are you sure you're not sleepy?"

"Yes," he said matter-of-factly.

"But I'm…" he yawned. "But I'm not!" Andrew still tried to convince him, his eyes starting to droop.

"It's getting late Drew," he ruffled his hair.

"I don't wanna sleep!" he protested. "I...I wanna…" he broke into another yawn and this time his eyes along with his head drooped. "I wanna stay awake with you…"

" _Somewhere over the rainbow,_

 _Way up high…"_ Austin began to sing, tucking Andrew in and kept singing.

" _...Someday I'll wish upon_

 _A star and wake up where the_

 _Clouds are far behind…"_ he began yawning himself, but continued the song, waiting until Andrew was fully asleep until he exited the room, and he did.

He made his way back in the room to see Ally sleeping soundly with her mouth slightly opened, hugging Prince. _Looks like she find a new cuddle buddy_ , Austin thought, pretending to be sad as he crawled into the bed next to Ally. Even though he was tired, he stayed up for a long time, just thinking about everything. He spent more of the time up than down.

He finally settled down around two or three in the morning, last to get to sleep as usual. Prince had finally left the bed (he was taking up all of the space) so Austin slid right in by Ally side. He pressed himself against her, knowing that with her natural warmth he'd find comfort, seeming to tell him he wasn't alone. He could feel her heart beating, strongly and rapidly. Words could not describe the way she made him feel.

He removed a loose lock of her hair and brushed it behind her ear and took her hand.

And though she was still dreaming, somehow her fingers always found a way to intertwine with his.


	21. Of Broken Arms and Tattoos

**WELCOME TO MYYY STORRYY,**

 **THAT I NEVER UPDATE,**

 **BECAUSE I AM BUSY,**

 **BUT AT THE SAME TIME LAAZZYYYY!**

 **Hi lovelies! Did you like my cover of My House? Haha I knew you would.**

* * *

The next morning was a bright and beautiful day. The light shone in Andrew's eyes. He opened them and looked at his clock, that read 7:01. He groaned, reluctantly getting out of bed and closing the curtain, then plopping down in his bed, trying to find sleep but now it seemed impossible.

He sighed, sitting up and looking down at his journal that he must've kicked on the floor in his sleep. He quickly picked it up and opened to the page where he was writing last night. Hesitantly, he ripped out the page and crumbled it up, remembering his father's wise words from the previous night: you can't force someone to fall in love with someone else, and, that time was change. He knew it was best to listen to him. Maybe everything would work out.

He sat in bed in a few more moments before closing his book and putting it on the shelf. He then headed downstairs for something to eat.

It wasn't long until Alex came downstairs, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Good morning," he yawned, pulling out a chair and sitting next to Andrew, who was now eating Cheerios.

"Morning," Andrew said back. "Want some Cheerios?" he offered.

Alex scrunched up his nose in disgust. "Cheerios are so plain. Don't we have anything else?"

Andrew shrugged. "How would I know?"

"I want pancakes," Alex decided.

"Wait till Mommy and Daddy wake up," Andrew warned. "They-" his jaw dropped when he realized that Alex was already in the pantry, climbing up to reach the pancake mix.

"Why is it so far?" Alex grunted, using all of his strength to reach it.

"Alex! Don't…"

"Almost there!"

"Get down!" he whispered harshly, not wanting his brother to get in trouble for climbing the shelves or even worse hurt. "You're gonna hurt yourself!"

"Got it!" he smiled, holding it up with one hand while he balanced with the other.

"Good," Andrew said through his teeth. "Now get down."

"Okay, okay Drew-" he suddenly was taken aback when his hand slipped and he fell right on his arm with a horrible crack. Andrew's heart clenched and and it felt hard to breathe. "MOM!" he sobbed.

Andrew knew this was no time for the "I told you so" lecture so he quickly ran upstairs and called for his parents. He burst into their room. "Mom! Dad! Wake up!"

Ally was the first to sit up. "What is it love?" she asked, trying to calm him down.

"Alex! He's hurt!" He could barely get the words out.

That got Austin up. "Hurt?!" The worried parents ran out of the room, not waiting for Andrew who was about to leave when he saw that Ariel's door was opening.

"What's all the fuss about?" she asked, still not fully awake.

"Alex is hurt," he replied quickly. Her eyes widened. "I...I think he broke his arm," he continued. "C'mon." He took her hand and dragged her downstairs.

* * *

Turns out, Andrew was right. Alex did indeed break his arm. Ex rays don't lie. When he finally got his cast on, he wanted his doctor to be the first one to sign it. Even though he wouldn't admit it out loud, he had a little crush on his female nurse. "Will he be okay?" Ally asked the nurse warily.

"Oh, absolutely," she smiled at Alex. "We're going to have to give him a prescription of antibiotics just to be safe."

"Thank you Miss Hartford," Austin said before what seemed like hours they made their way out of the hospital.

"What exactly did you do to break your arm Alex?" Ally said as they drove home.

Alex chuckled nervously. "Heh, you know. I...uh.."

"He fell," Andrew cut in, trying to save his brother from getting in trouble for climbing the pantry. "On...On...something...hard?"

"Yeah!" Ariel said. "He...He lost his balance when he was trying to get some breakfast."

"Yeah, I don't know what came over me," Alex said nervously. Ally raised her eyebrow, still unconvinced.

* * *

"What a day!" Ally collapsed on the bed dramatically, then snuggled into the comforter, wishing she could snuggle into Austin but for some reason he was taking forever to get his pajamas on. "You coming or what?" she called.

"Right here," Austin smiled, emerging from the bathroom.

Ally frowned. "Since when do you not change in front of me? It's not like there's anything that I haven't seen before."

"I know, Alls, I just...I just feel insecure is all and-"

"Insecure?!" she asked in disbelief. "You're Austin Moon!" She knew that that wasn't true. Austin Moon was one of the most insecure people she has ever met. He hated himself, and the worst part is that Ally couldn't say anything to save him from himself. There was always going to be a part of himself that he just hated, and she knew that would never change. But out of all things, why would he be insecure about his body? His body was the most beautiful thing she's ever seen, even with clothes on. He had been changing in the bathroom for the past week now and Ally knew that there had to be more to it than insecuraty.

"So?" he said, almost bitterly, about to get into bed but Ally quickly got out and ripped his shirt off.

"See? Was that so hard I mean-" she cut herself off when she saw what was on his body. It was a tattoo. Cross that. _Four tattoos_ that spelt out Ally, Andrew, Ariel, Alex. Ally wasn't sure what to say. "You...You got a tattoo?" she whispered.

Austin nodded slowly.

"W...Why?"

"Because I love you guys, and I thought...I don't know what I thought. One day, everything I have is going to be gone, and I want everything to be remembered. You guys are my whole world, and to picture a world without all of you in it...it'd be so empty. I don't know. It doesn't make me feel so lonely when I'm alone."

Ally smiled softly, wrapping her arms around his bare back and just hugging him tightly. "I love you Austin," she whispered in his ear. "I'm not going anywhere."

Austin smiled, burying his nose into her soft hair and breathing her in. He knew there was no need for those tattoo's. But something in his mind just couldn't stop him from doing it. Ally turned off the light and crawled into bed and he slowly fell behind. "How's your Dad?" he asked as they laid in the darkness. Ally had recently told him the news that Lester was sick, and they were going to see him today but the whole thing with Alex took up most of the day.

"I'm not sure," Ally answered truthfully. "I haven't heard anything from Patrick today."

"He's got a lot on his plate," Austin murmured.

"Remember when he was seven?"

"Those were the days. Now something has seemed to sucked the life out of him. I want to see the light in his eyes again, Ally, like he used to have. He's so much different."

"He's growing up sweets," Ally said calmly.

"I...I know. I just miss the days when he had no worries or troubles. I think the whole Hazel and Danny thing has taken a toll on him. He just needs a break from it all. Maybe he should go somewhere for spring break."

Ally's eyes opened when he brain hatched an idea. "That's it! We can all go to Disney World for spring break! All of us! You, me, the triplets, Trish, Dez, Piper, Jason, Gavin, Jeanette

"Slow your read honey," Austin said. "That's a big trip and little time to plan."

"Can we at least think about it?" Ally asked, clinging onto him. "Pleasy?" she gave him the puppy-dog-eyes.

Austin couldn't resist that. "Okay, Alls, we'll see," he smiled, kissing her forehead and connecting it with his.


	22. AN- It's Not Bad I Promise!

**Hey guys! This isn't a chapter :( And don't worry, it's not about deleting this or anything I have some of the chapter done in docs so hopefully I can get some inspiration for it. But it's not going anywhere :)**

 **Anywho, I have a question for you guys. (I tried to do a poll but I had no idea how to work it...)**

 **So remember when I talked about re-writing the entire series? Well, that's probably not gonna happen cause I honestly don't have time for that. Sorry. BUT I was looking through the reviews for this story and I came across an idea that someone had. They told me that it'd be really cool if I could do a one-shot series about the events starting from the end of Things Change to the beginning of Brave New World.**

 **I've been thinking about it a lot and I think I'm gonna do it! The thing is that I need at least a handful of people who will support this idea cause I really want to do it.**

 **Just so you know, whatever you think I'm probably gonna do it anyways XD I'd recommend reading Things Change beforehand cause of all the stuff that happened.**

 **The point is I just wanted your opinion :) Good or bad I support ya. Or PM me you know and all that jazz.**

 **That'll be all!**

 **Stay gold ㈎9**


	23. Taking Responsibility

**So...I had the chapter because I was going to write it for the last chapter but decided against it and that's how we ended up with Alex's broken arm and Austin's tattoo lol. But I was really proud of what I had so far in this one...I guess I'll have to start over :(**

 **But that's okay! It might turn out better.**

* * *

"Dad, how am I supposed to play video games with this broken arm?" Alex asked sadly, poking at the controller with his good hand.

"I guess you'll have to find something else to do, bud," Austin said.

Alex looked him blankly, as if he was talking in a foreign language.

"Read a book," Andrew suggested, not taking his eyes off of the screen. He was currently playing Mario, having no trouble defeating the first boss.

Shaking his head, Alex got up to get a snack, feeling useless. He and Andrew always played Mario together, and Andrew was always Luigi. He was Mario. It seemed as though his brother didn't even need his help anymore. He tried not to be angry, and if he would have listened to his brother then he wouldn't have have a broken arm, and he'd be back to being Mario.

Just as he reached for the cookie jar, Ally came downstairs, holding the laundry basket. "Ah, ah, ah, no junk food. You'll spoil your dinner," Ally scolded gently.

"But…"

"Don't argue with me. You can have sorting healthy to tide you over." Ally may have been the stricter one, but she was always far. She wouldn't let her son eat something unhealthy but she wouldn't let him eat nothing at all.

Ally calmly set down the laundry basket and went to the fridge to get him an orange (to be more precise, a cutie). She handed it to him. "Go nuts," she smiled, picking up the laundry basket and going into the laundry room.

Alex frowned. He didn't want an orange. Glancing back at the jar, he looked around to make sure no one was watching; Ally was still doing laundry and Austin seemed to be hypnotized by the screen. Then his eye caught Prince's. "Here, Prince.¨ He quickly peeled the orange and feed it to the dog, knowing that if it looked like he was eating the orange he could get away with eating the cookie. If he put the orange back in the fridge Ally wouldn't believe that he ate it.

Once Ally came out of the laundry room, Alex finished the last of his cookie and went upstairs.

Ally approached the living room, wrapping her arms around Austin and kissing his head. He held onto her arms. "What was that for? he asked.

Ally shrugged. "I wuv you," she said in a babyish voice.

"I wuv you too." Austin smiled. Kissing up and down her arms. She giggled.

"Ariel! Why do you always have to die all the time?" Andrew groaned. "You promised if you were gonna play you wouldn't die."

"I'm sorry. This level is hard," she whined.

"Go easy on her Drew," Austin said, putting an arm over his son. "She's not a gaming master like you."

Andrew smiled against his will. It was weird not playing the game without Alex. Although Alex was Luigi, he had the upperhand. He was always racing ahead of him and now it seemed like he and Ariel switched places. His sister couldn't seem to not be able to keep up with him. They all jumped when they heard the skype on the computer went off.

"Oh, it's Brooke!" Austin said excitedly, clicking the "answer" button and Brooke's face appeared on the screen.

"Hi guys," Brooke said, waving happily.

"Hi Brooke!" Austin said.

"Long time no see," Ally added. It had been a long time since they saw Austin's best friend in person. She Skyped them two or three times every couple months just to check in. The last time they saw her was when the triplets were born and couple of times in between. She had moved back to Oklahoma City, where her heart truly was. Also with Matthew, the young man in the coffee shop she knew for years.

"Hey guys, it's Aunt Brooke. Come say hi," Austin told them, indicating with his arm for them to come.

Ally called Alex, too. He came down a few seconds afterwards. "Hi Aunt Brooke!" they all said.

"Hey guys," she said. "What happened to your arm bud?"

"I fell."

"Doing what?" she smirked.

He shrugged. "Um…"

"Anyways," Brooke said, knowing she wasn't going to get an answer anytime soon. "Matthew and I were thinking of coming down soon."

"Cool!" Andrew said.

"Awesome!" Ariel beamed. "Do you think you could braid my hair? Mommy tries but she can never do it right."

Ally furrowed her eyebrows. "Hey!"

Austin laughed, even though he couldn't help but feel like something was terribly wrong. Brooke could be smiling and laughing but Austin knew when she was upset. Something was going on. He could feel it.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a grunting noise. He turned his head quickly, realizing it was Prince, who was under the kitchen table, throwing up something. "What did he get into?" Austin asked, more to himself than anyone else. "Hold on." He put the computer down and approached the table to see that he threw up an orange. The dog gagged one last time before walking away and laying down.

Alex clenched his teeth together tightly. "Umm...I gotta go!" he raced upstairs but Ally stopped him and he hesitantly came back downstairs.

"What did he do Alls?" Austin asked.

"I gave him an orange like ten minutes ago," she explained. "He must've feed it to that dog." She narrowed her eyes at Alex. He seemed fine afterwards but Austin knew they would need to take him to the vet just in case.

Austin took a breath, and before Ally could chew him out, he let out a quiet, "Go to your room."

"What?" Ally and Alex both said. Ally out of surprise and Alex just because he couldn't believe that those words would come out of his father's mouth. It was always mothers. Everyone was quiet.

"Go to your room," Austin repeated, a little louder as he slowly lifted his head.

"But Dad-" he protested but was quietly interrupted.

"Now," he said firmly.

Alex opened his mouth to protest again but he quickly closed it, knowing there was no sense in arguing. Head down, he went upstairs.

Austin watched, feeling like a monster even though he knew it was the right thing to do. He needed to take responsibility.

"Why don't you too go play outside?" Ally asked Ariel and Andrew.

"Okay," Andrew said, taking Ariel's hand and they made their way outside.

"Stay in the front yard where we can see you!" Austin called.

Ally just smiled at him. "I'm so proud of you."

"For what? Yelling at him?"

"He did something wrong," Ally pointed out. "I'm proud of you because you took responsibility.

Austin didn't say anything as she hugged him from behind. He stayed quiet, running his hands up and down her arms that were goosebumped. "Are you cold?" he asked softly.

"Sort of."

They switched roles so now that his arms were wrapped around her. "I think something is bothering Brooke," he finally said.

"Why do you say that?"

"Dunno," he admitted. "I'll tell you one thing: she's going to keep on faking a smile until she breaks."

Little did they know they had forgotten to hang up the Skype call, and that Brooke was still listening.

* * *

 **Please read for new story info! And Q and A of course ㈴2**

 **Okay that was nothing like what I had before bhaha oh well. I know it wasn't my best but who's excited that Brooke is back?! Yesss.**

 **Anywho, I guess you guys liked that idea in the last chapter about the missing moments from the end of Things Change to the beginning of this story.**

 **I am calling it "I Promise You Things Will Change". I know, long title but I really wanted to do a mixture between the original and the sequel.**

 **QOTD: What's your very favorite pairing that only exists in my stories and why?**

 **MA: Patrick and Hazel: even though they aren't together (yet!) I still think their relationship is super sweet and they've known each other since they were seven and they're freaking cuties! ^.^**

 **AND Elliot and Piper, of course: because I just love putting them together so much especially in this story and they both have raised Jason and it proves that you don't need blood to be family and he's in the military...so bittersweet! I love them!**

 **Crap I also love Ariel and Jason too!**

 **And Gavin and Jeanette.**

 **Ugghh I ship so many people!**

 **You stay incredibly gold ㈎9**


	24. Worries and Big News

A few weeks had passed, and Austin was starting to get worried. He hadn't heard a word from Brooke. He texted her, but she didn't reply. Something terrible happened. Every day that passed by he felt more certain that something bad had happened. He didn't know. He couldn't come up with anything though at the same time millions of scenarios. What if Matthew broke her heart? Were the owners of The Cracked Mug- his parents best friends- Frank and Annie okay?

He knew that known of his theories were true. Maybe he was just being paranoid.

"What's wrong Daddy?" Austin jumped when he heard Ariel's voice.

"N-Nothing. I…" he took a breath and ran a hand through his messy hair. "Don't worry about it." He gave her a soft smile.

She frowned. "Right…"

* * *

"I think something is bothering my daddy," Ariel said to Jason as they say under the oak tree in the grassy field at recess, watching Andrew and Alex play.

"Why do you say that?" Jason asked, not looking directly at her simply because he was a tad distracted by his toy solider he recently got at the dollar tree. But none the less he was still listening.

Ariel shrugged. "He just seems out of it, you know?"

Then he shrugged. "How so?"

"Isn't really talking," she explained. She glanced at her brothers, who seemed to be completely oblivious to how unhappy their father seemed.

"My papa always has something to say," said Jason, finally looking up at her with a cheerful smile. "He's such _fun._ He's always so happy. He's usually always right too."

"Huh. My mommy's usually always right…"

"Your family sure is funny," he said after a moment of silence.

Ariel narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean by that Jase?"

"Our...families...are...very...different," he said hesitantly, knowing saying that saying his friend's family was funny was the wrong word choose. "I mean, Alex looks like exactly like your dad and acts like him as well. And Andrew looks exactly like your mom and acts like her. But you- you're a mixture of both."

Ariel pondered that. "I never thought of it that way," she admitted.

Jason smiled. "I guess you learn something new everyday."

Nodding, Ariel asked, "So what are you gonna do for your birthday? It's coming up soon."

"Not till May," he reminded her. "I haven't thought of it much."

"What do you wanna do?"

"I dunno, really. My dad promised he'd be back by the time my birthday came. It'd be weird not to have it without him," he explained sadly.

"Oh." She scooted closer to him and squeezed his hand. "I'm sure he'll make it! It'll be the best birthday ever, you'll see," she assured, and he couldn't help but smile.

"I...I hope you're right," he said truthfully.

* * *

Austin jumped when he felt his phone buzz. Ally was fast asleep, as always. He checked the clock, which read 11:30. He unlocked his phone and put it on silent when he realized it was the group chat he had set up with Patrick, Elliot, Gavin and Dez.

 _Patrick: Wanna have a guys night?_

 _Elliot: I would if I wasn't miles away :)_

 _Dez: Elliot! What's up?_

 _Patrick: Eyyyy!_

 _ **Hi Elliot**_ _,_ Austin sent a message.

 _Elliot: How's everyone? You're taking care of Piper, right Austin?_

 _ **Of course I am. Nothing to worry about. Her baby shower is in a week, by the way**_

 _Elliot: So she told me_

The group chat was silent for a while until Elliot sent a another message.

 _I have something to tell you guys_

 _Dez: What is it?_

 _Patrick: Shoot_

 _ **Yeah?**_

 _Gavin: Do you people ever be quiet?! I was just about to fall asleep and bam my phone goes off a million times!_

 _Dez: Shhh, you're ruining the moment! Elliot has news!_

 _Gavin: It's Jeanette. Sorry, he's always mad when he's tired, just ignore him. What's the news?!_

Austin laughed as he pictured Jeanette stealing the phone from Gavin and him protesting.

 _Patrick: Elliot?_

 _Dez: Say something I'm giving up on youuuuu! ㈶6_

 _ **Dammit Gavin you scared him away ㈳4**_

 _Elliot: No, he didn't scare me away haha. I was just waiting till everyone was quiet before I said anything._

 _Patrick: I'll be quiet_

 _Gavin: Sorry…_

 _Dez: *Zips lips*_

 _Elliot: Okay...I'm going to propose to Piper_

 _ **NO WAY! FINALLY!**_

 _Dez: AHHH! CONGRATS MAN! Can I be your best man?_

 _Gavin: You finally got the guts! Go you!_

 _Patrick: Yay! I wanna be one of the groomsmen! I was just a ring bearer for Austin and Ally's wedding!_

 _Elliot: I'm sure that'll be no problem Pat. I was thinking it'd be best after the baby was born, of course. Maybe a month or two but it's been on my mind for a long time. The worst she could say is no, right?_

 _ **Psh, you've got her wrapped around your fingers. She could never say no.**_

 _Elliot: You don't know that_

 _Gavin: So are we having a guys night or can I go to sleep yet?_

 _Patrick: No, maybe it's not the best night. I'm STILL doing homework. Honors calculus in the worst_

 _ **Okay then, I should get to sleep.**_

Austin locked his phone and set it on the dresser. He saw Ally roll over. He eyes fluttered opened then closed again. She reached for him. Without saying anything else, he wrapped his arms around her. Suddenly his worries started to fade, and sleep came easily.

* * *

 **I know it's short and all over the place but I kinda like it.**

 **QOTD: What was the last movie you saw in the theater? Did you like it?**

 **MA: Storks haha I think I was the only teenager in that theater I swear XD Yeah it was pretty good but there were some moments that got a little too silly for me but all in all it was a really cute movie.**

 **Stay goldddd ㈎9**


	25. Storks and Surprises

The following week was spring break. Aka Piper's baby shower. Aka bring back the famous question: where do babies come from? Austin was mighty proud of himself for coming up with a solution. He had simply told them it was the storks. They were happy with that...for now.

Ally was finishing up the decorations and wrapping her presents for the baby shower - that was going to take place at their house- and Austin was making breakfast while the triples were making a gift of their own: a card with a stork on it. "That looks nice guys," Austin commented, smiling as he set down their plates. "Your Aunt Piper will love it."

"Yum, pancakes!" Alex said, smacking his lips together, but before he could even pick of up the fork Austin cleared his throat.

"Not too fast, you guys ought to wash up," he said gently. All of their hands were smudged with marker and glitter. "Wait, it needs a tad more glitter." She quickly poured more than enough on and rubbed her hands together. "All done," she smiled, hopping off the table and into the bathroom.

Austin smiled as he watched them almost trip over each other to get to the bathroom. He went back to the grill and turned it off and took the last few pancakes for him and Ally. "Breakfast is ready!" Austin called to her.

"Hold on," Ally called back. "I'm trying to get this stupid banner straight!"

Curious, Austin approached the living room, where Ally was. "It looks fine to me," he murmured. It was the classic _It's A Girl!_ banner, which in no way it looked crooked to Austin.

"You think so?" she asked doubtfully.

He nodded. "It doesn't have to be perfect, anyway," he said.

"But I want it to be," she pouted.

"You act like _you're_ the pregnant one," he joked.

"How do you know I'm not?"

Austin shifted. "Are you?"

"Well...Did you use…"

"Yes."

"Was I on…"

"Yes."

"Did we try the-"

"Yes."

"Am I craving insane foods?"

"No."

"Do I have morning sickness?"

"No."

"Are I-"

"Okay, you're not pregnant," he laughed, getting the point. "Then why do you want everything to be perfect?"

"I dunno, I just want everyone to have a good time. I feel like Piper thinks she's unwanted. I think she's felt that way for a long time. She thinks that everyone hates her."

"She's like that sometimes," Austin assured. "I think she has a lot of fear and guilt."

"Exactly," Ally agreed. "That's why I offered to plan it and be the host. I want her to feel like people care about her. Elliot's Mom will be here, too, and I don't know her well. She even thinks that _she_ doesn't like her."

"Oh, I'm sure that's not true. She gave her a grandson, and now a granddaughter. I mean she has to know that Elliot loves her, after all he's-" Austin stopped himself. Should he tell her that Elliot was planning to purpose? He couldn't help but Ally was going to blurt it out at the baby shower and the surprise will be ruined.

Ally's head cocked up and her lips formed a grin. "He's what?"

Austin knew now there was no getting out of this. She already knew, judging by the way her face lit up. "He's proposing."

"Who's proposing?" Ariel asked, seeming to come out of nowhere. Before Austin knew it she was right in the middle of them.

Ally nervously laughed. "Heh, don't you have breakfast to eat?"

"Alex ate my pancakes," she explained quickly before tugging on Ally's dress. "Now who's proposing? Can I be the flower girl? When's the wedding?"

Austin knew for certain that his daughter would give it away, being the only girl except Ally that knew at the baby shower. She'd tell everyone. Ally knew that too, because she bent down to Ariel's level and gently said, "All in good time."

Ariel opened her mouth to protest but close it when the doorbell rung. But this didn't stop her from asking questions. She put her hands on her hips. "Who could that be? The baby shower doesn't start for another few hours." She followed her parents to the door, Alex and Andrew cocked their heads in curiosity, then putting their toy hot wheels down and going up to the door.

Austin answered, and did a double take when he realized who it was. Brooke Katherine was standing before him, smiling, Matthew by her side. "Surprise!"

* * *

 **Leaving it here for now! The QOTD is a little different. Its for only one person. My question is for Brooklyn: you know how you said a while back that you have a song for all of my stories? (Yes, I notice you haha). Like a song that reminds you of it. What song does this story remind you of?**

 **That'll be all!**

 **Stay gold ㈎9**


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